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RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 
BY  ORISON  SWETT  MARDEN 


BOOKS  BY 

ORISON  SWETT  MARDEN 

GETTING  ON 
BE  GOOD  TO  YOURSELF 
PEACE,  POWER,  AND  PLENTY 
HE  CAN  WHO  THINKS  HE  CAN 
THE  MIRACLE  OF  RIGHT  THOUGHT 
EVERY  MAN  A KING;  OR,  MIGHT  IN  MIND 
MASTERY 

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THE  OPTIMISTIC  LIFE 
THE  YOUNG  MAN  ENTERING  BUSINESS 
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TALKS  WITH  GREAT  WORKERS 
THE  SECRET  OF  ACHIEVEMENT 
RISING  IN  THE  WORLD;  OR,  ARCHITECTS 
OF  FATE 

PUSHING  TO  THE  FRONT;  OR,  SUCCESS 
UNDER  DIFFICULTIES 
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SUCCESS  NUGGETS 

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BOOKLETS 

Character  Economy 

Cheerfulness  Iron  Will 

Good  Manners  Opportunity 

Do  IT  TO  A Finish  Power  of  Personality 
Not  the  Salary  but  the  Opportunity 
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THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  & CO. 


Siat«0  ttt  % Unrli 


OR,  ARCHITECTS  OF  FATE 


A BOOK  DESIGNED  TO  INSPIRE  YOUTH  TO 
CHARACTER-BUILDING,  SELF-CULTURE 
AND  NOBLE  ACHIEVEMENT 


BY 


ORISON  SWETT  MARDEN 


Author  of 

Peace,  Power,  and  Plenty,”  “ Every  Man  a King,”  etc. 
Editor  of  Success  Magaxtne 


“ All  are  architects  of  fate 
Working  in  these  walls  of  time.” 

“ Onr  to-days  and  yesterdays 
Arc  the  blocks  with  which  we  build.” 

Let  thy  great  deed  be  thy  prayer  to  thy  God.” 


NEW  YORK 

THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  & CO. 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1894, 

Bv  ORISON  SWETT  MARDEN. 


All  rights  resern^ed. 


PREFACE 


HE  demand  for  more  than 
a dozen  editions  of  “ Push- 
ing to  the  Front  ” during 
its  first  year  and  its  univer- 
sally favorable  reception, 
both  at  home  and  abroad, 
have  encouraged  the  author  to  publish  this 
companion  volume  of  somewhat  similar  scope 
and  purpose.  The  two  books  were  prepared 
simultaneously ; and  the  story  of  the  first, 
given  in  its  preface,  applies  equally  well  to 
this. 

Inspiration  to  character-building  and  worthy 
achievement  is  the  keynote  of  the  present  vol- 
ume; its  object,  to  arouse  to  honorable  exer- 
tion youths  who  are  drifting  without  aim,  to 
awaken  dormant  ambitions  in  those  who  have 
grown  discouraged  in  the  struggle  for  success, 
to  encourage  and  stimulate  to  higher  resolve 
those  who  are  setting  out  to  make  their  own 
way,  with  perhaps  neither  friendship  nor 
capital  other  than  a determination  to  get  on 
in  the  world. 

Nothing  is  so  fascinating  to  a youth  with 
high  purpose,  life,  and  energy  throbbing  in 


VI 


PREFACE 


his  young  blood  as  stories  of  men  and  women 
who  have  brought  great  things  to  pass. 
Though  these  themes  are  as  old  as  the  human 
race,  yet  they  are  ever  new,  and  more  inter- 
esting to  the  young  than  any  fiction.  The  cry 
of  youth  is  for  life!  more  life!  No  didactic 
or  dogmatic  teaching,  however  brilliant,  will 
capture  a twentieth-century  boy,  keyed  up  to 
the  highest  pitch  by  the  pressure  of  an  intense 
civilization.  The  romance  of  achievement 
under  difficulties,  of  obscure  beginnings  and 
triumphant  ends ; the  story  of  how  great  men 
started,  their  struggles,  their  long  waitings, 
amid  want  and  woe,  the  obstacles  overcome, 
the  final  triumphs ; examples,  which  explode 
excuses,  of  men  who  have  seized  common  sit- 
uations and  made  them  great ; of  those  of 
average  capacity  who  have  succeeded  by  the 
use  of  ordinary  means,  by  dint  of  indomitable 
will  and  inflexible  purpose — these  will  most 
inspire  the  ambitious  youth.  The  author 
teaches  that  there  are  bread  and  success  for 
every  youth  under  the  American  flag  who  has 
the  grit  to  seize  his  chance  and  work  his  way 
to  his  own  loaf ; that  the  barriers  are  not  yet 
erected  which  can  say  to  aspiring  talent, 
“ Thus  far  and  no  farther  ” ; that  the  most 
forbidding  circumstances  can  not  repress  a 


PREFACE 


vii 

longing  for  knowledge,  a yearning  for 
growth ; that  poverty,  humble  birth,  loss  of 
limbs  or  even  eyesight,  have  not  been  able 
to  bar  the  progress  of  men  with  grit ; that 
poverty  has  rocked  the  cradle  of  the  giants 
who  have  wrung  civilization  from  barbarism, 
and  have  led  the  world  up  from  savagery  to 
the  Gladstones,  the  Lincolns,  and  the  Grants. 

The  book  shows  that  it  is  the  man  with  one 
unwavering  aim  who  cuts  his  way  through 
opposition  and  forges  to  the  front ; that  in 
this  electric  age,  where  everything  is  pusher 
or  pushed,  he  who  would  succeed  must  hold 
his  ground  and  push  hard;  that  what  are 
stumbling-blocks  and  defeats  to  the  weak  and 
vacillating  are  but  stepping-stones  and  vic- 
tories to  the  strong  and  determined.  The  au- 
thor teaches  that  every  germ  of  goodness  will 
at  last  struggle  into  bloom  and  fruitage,  and 
that  true  success  follows  every  right  step.  He 
has  tried  to  touch  the  higher  springs  of  the 
youth’s  aspiration ; to  lead  him  to  high  ideals ; 
to  teach  him  that  there  is  something  nobler  in 
an  occupation  than  merely  living-getting  or 
money-getting ; that  a man  may  make  millions 
and  be  a failure  still ; to  caution  youth  not  to 
allow  the  maxims  of  a low  prudence,  dinned 
daily  into  his  ears  in  this  money-getting  age, 


PREFACE 


viii 

to  repress  the  longings  for  a higher  life ; that 
the  hand  can  never  safely  reach  higher  than 
does  the  heart. 

The  author’s  aim  has  been  largely  through 
concrete  illustrations  which  have  pith,  point, 
and  purpose,  to  be  more  suggestive  than  dog- 
matic, in  a style  more  practical  than  elegant, 
more  helpful  than  ornate,  more  pertinent  than 
novel. 

He  wishes  to  acknowledge  valuable  assist- 
ance from  Mr.  Arthur  W.  Brown,  of  West 
Kingston,  R.I. 

O.  S.  M. 

43  Bowdoin  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

December  2,  1895. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  I 

WANTED — A MAN  I 

God  is  after  a man.  Wealth  is  nothing, 
fame  is  nothing.  Manhood  is  everything. 

CHAPTER  II 

DARE  III 

Dare  to  live  thy  creed.  Conquer  your  place 
in  the  world.  All  things  serve  a brave 
soul. 

CHAPTER  HI 

THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY  4I 

Find  a way  or  m'ake  one.  Everything  is 
either  pusher  or  pushed.  The  world  al- 
ways listens  to  a man  with  a will  in  him. 

CHAPTER  IV 

USES  OF  OBSTACLES  63 

The  Great  Sculptor  cares  little  for  the  hu- 
man block  as  such;  it  is  the  statue  He  is 
after;  and  He  will  blast,  hammer,  and 
chisel  with  poverty,  hardships,  anything  to 
get  out  the  man. 


IX 


X CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  V 

ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  85 

Find  your  purpose  and  fling  your  life  out 
to  it.  Try  to  be  somebody  with  all  your 
might. 

CHAPTER  VI 

SELF-HELP  108 

Self-made  or  never  made.  The  greatest 
men  have  risen  from  the  ranks. 

CHAPTER  VH 

WORK  AND  W.\IT  1 33 

Don’t  risk  a life’s  superstructure  upon  a 
day’s  foundation. 

CHAPTER  VHI 

CLEAR  GRIT  I 54 

The  goddess  of  fame  or  of  fortune  has 
been  won  by  many  a poor  boy  who  had 
no  friends,  no  backing,  or  anything  but 
pure  grit  and  invincible  purpose  to  com- 
mend him. 

CHAPTER  IX 

RICH  WITHOUT  MONEY  I73 

To  have  nothing  is  not  poverty.  Whoever 
uplifts  civilization  is  rich  though  he  die 
penniless,  and  future  generations  will  erect 
his  monument. 


CONTENTS 


XI 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  X 

OPPORTUNITIES  WHERE  YOU  ARE  189 

“How  speaks  the  present  hour?  Act.” 
Don’t  wait  for  great  opportunities.  Seize 
common  occasions  and  make  them  great. 

CHAPTER  XI 

THE  MIGHT  OF  LITTLE  THINGS  204 

There  is  nothing  small  in  a world  where 
a mud-crack  swells  to  an  Amazon,  and  the 
stealing  of  a penny  may  end  on  the  scaf- 
fold. 

CHAPTER  XII 

nature’s  LITTLE  BILL  223 

'Many  a man  pays  for  his  success  with  a 
slice  of  his  constitution.  Most  of  us  carry 
our  creeds  in  our  bile-ducts.  If  they  are 
healthy,  we  are  optimists;  if  diseased,  pes- 
simists. 

CHAPTER  XHI 

CHOOSING  A VOCATION  249 

Half  the  world  is  out  of  place  and  tor- 
tured with  the  consciousness  of  unfulfilled 
destiny.  Civilization  will  mark  its  highest 
tide  when  every  man  finds  his  place  and 
fills  it. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

the  man  with  an  idea  271 

The  man  with  an  idea  has  ever  changed 
the  face  of  the  world. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  XV 

DECISION  291 

To  dally  with  your  purpose,  to  half  will, 
to  hang  forever  in  the  balance,  is  to  lose 
your  grip  on  life. 

CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  CURSE  OF  IDLENESS  308 

A lazy  man  is  of  no  more  use  than  a 
dead  man,  and  he  takes  up  more  room. 


I.  WANTED— A MAN 


“Wanted;  men: 

Not  systems  fit  and  wise, 

Not  faiths  with  rigid  eyes, 

Not  wealth  in  mountain  piles. 

Not  power  with  gracious  smiles. 

Not  even  the  potent  pen: 

Wanted;  men.” 

All  the  world  cries.  Where  is  the  man  who  will 
save  us  ? We  want  a man ! Don’t  look  so  far  for 
this  man.  You  have  him  at  hand.  This  man, — it 
is  you,  it  is  I,  it  is  each  one  of  us!  . . . How 
to  constitute  one’s  self  a man?  Nothing  harder,  if 
one  knows  not  how  to  will  it;  nothing  easier,  if  one 
wills  it. — Alexandre  Dumas. 

lOGENES  sought  with  a 
lantern  at  noontide  in  an- 
cient Athens  for  a perfectly 
honest  man,  and  sought  in 
vain.  In  the  market  place 
he  once  cried  aloud,  “ Hear 
me,  O men  ” ; and,  when  a crowd  collected 
around  him,  he  said  scornfully : “ I called 

for  men,  not  pygmies.” 

Over  the  door  of  every  profession,  every 
occupation,  every  calling,  the  world  has  a 
standing  advertisement : “ Wanted — A Man.” 

Wanted,  a man  who  will  not  lose  his  indi- 


I 


2 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


viduality  in  a crowd,  a man  Avho  has  the 
icoura^e  of  his  convictions,  who  is  not  afraid 
to  say  “ No,”  though  all  the  world  say  “ Yes.” 

Wanted,  a man  who,  though  he  is  domi- 
nated by  a mighty  purpose,  will  not  permit 
one  great  faculty  to  dwarf,  cripple,  warp,  or 
mutilate  his  manhood ; who  will  not  allow  the 
over-development  of  one  faculty  to  stunt  or 
paralyze  his  other  faculties. 

Wanted,  a man  who  is  larger  than  his  call- 
ing, who  considers  it  a low  estimate  of  his 
occupation  to  value  it  merely  as  a means  of 
getting  a living.  Wanted,  a man  who  sees 
self-development,  education  and  culture,  dis- 
cipline and  drill,  character  and  manhood,  in 
his  occupation. 

A thousand  pulpits  vacant  in  a single  re- 
ligious denomination,  a thousand  preachers 
standing  idle  in  the  market  place,  while  a 
thousand  church  committees  scour  the  land 
foremen  to  fill  tlrose  same  vacant  pulpits,  and 
scour  in  vain,  is  a sufficient  indication,  in  one 
direction  at  least,  of  the  largeness  of  the  op- 
portunities of  the  age,  and  also  of  the  crying 
need  of  good  men. 

Wanted,  a man  of  courage,  who  is  not  a 
Coward  in  any  part  of  his  nature. 

Wanted,  a man  who  is  well  balanced,  who 


WANTED— A MAN 


3 


is  not  cursed  with  some  little  defect  or  weak- 
ness which  cripples  his  usefulness  and  neu- 
tralizes his  powers. 

Wanted,  a man  who  is  symmetrical,  and 
not  one-sided  in  his  development,  who  has 
not  sent  all  the  energies  of  his  being  into  one 
narrow  specialty  and  allowed  all  the  other 
branches  of  his  life  to  wither  and  die. 
Wanted,  a man  who  is  broad,  who  does  not 
take  half  views  of  things ; a man  who  mixes 
common  sense  with  his  theories,  who  does  not 
let  a college  education  spoil  him  for  practical, 
every-day  life ; a man  who  prefers  substance 
to  show,  and  one  who  regards  his  good  name 
as  a priceless  treasure. 

Wanted,  a man  “ who,  no  stunted  ascetic, 
is  full  of  life  and  fire,  but  whose  passions 
are  trained  to  heed  a strong  will,  the  serv- 
ant of  a tender  conscience;  who  has  learned 
to  love  all  beauty,  whether  of  nature  or  of 
art,  to  hate  all  vileness,  and  to  respect  others 
as  himself.” 

The  world  wants  a man  who  is  educated 
all  over;  whose  nerves  are  brought  to  their 
acutest  sensibility ; whose  brain  is  cultured, 
keen,  incisive,  broad;  whose  hands  are  deft; 
whose  eyes  are  alert,  sensitive,  microscopic ; 
whose  heart  is  tender,  magnanimous,  true. 


4 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


The  whole  world  is  looking  for  such  a man. 
Although  there  are  millions  out  of  employ- 
ment, yet  it  is  almost  impossible  to  find  just 
the  right  man  in  almost  any  department  of 
life,  and  yet  everywhere  we  see  the  advertise- 
ment : “ Wanted — A Man.” 

Rousseau,  in  his  celebrated  essay  on  educa- 
tion, says : “ According  to  the  order  of  na- 

ture, men  being  equal,  their  common  voca- 
tion is  the  profession  of  humanity ; and  who- 
ever is  well  educated  to  discharge  the  duty 
of  a man  can  not  be  badly  prepared  to  fill 
any  of  those  offices  that  have  a relation  to 
him.  It  matters  little  to  me  whether  my  pupil 
be  designed  for  the  army,  the  pulpit,  or  the 
bar.  Nature  has  destined  us  to  the  offices  of 
human  life  antecedent  to  our  destination  con- 
cerning society.  To  live  is  the  profession  I 
would  teach  him.  When  I have  done  with 
him,  it  is  true  he  will  be  neither  a soldier, 
a lawyer,  nor  a divine.  Let  him  hrst  be  a 
man;  Fortune  may  remove  him  from  one 
rank  to  another  as  she  pleases,  he  will  be 
always  found  in  his  place.” 

A little,  short  doctor  of  divinity  in  a large 
Baptist  convention  stood  on  a step  and  said 
he  thanked  God  he  was  a Baptist.  The  audi- 
ence could  not  hear  and  called  “ Louder.” 


WANTED— A MAN 


5 


“ Get  up  higher,”  some  one  said.  “ I can’t,” 
he  replied.  “To  be  a Baptist  is  as  high  as 
one  can  get.”  But  there  is  something  higher 
than  being  a Baptist,  and  that  is  being  a man. 

As  Emerson  says,  Talleyrand’s  question  is 
ever  the  main  one ; not,  is  he  rich  ? is  he  com- 
mitted? is  he  well-meaning?  has  he  this  or 
that  faculty?  is  he  of  the  movement?  is  he 
of  the  establishment?  but  is  he  anybody?  does 
he  stand  for  something?  He  must  be  good 
of  his  kind.  That  is  all  that  Talleyrand,  all 
that  the  common  sense  of  mankind  asks. 

When  Garfield  as  a young  boy  was  asked 
what  he  meant  to  be,  he  answered : “ First 
of  all,  I must  make  myself  a man ; if  I do  not 
succeed  in  that,  I can  succeed  in  nothing.” 

■Montaigne  says  our  work  is  not  to  train  a 
soul  by  itself  alone,  nor  a body  by  itself 
alone,  but  to  train  a man. 

One  great  need  of  the  world  to-day  is  for 
men  and  women  who  are  good  animals.  To 
endure  the  strain  of  our  concentrated  civili- 
zation, the  coming  man  and  woman  must 
have  good  bodies  and  an  excess  of  animal 
spirits. 

What  more  glorious  than  a magnificent 
manhood,  animated  with  the  bounding  spirits 
of  overflowing  health? 


6 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


It  is  a sad  sight  to  see  thousands  of  stu- 
dents graduated  every  year  from  our  grand 
institutions  whose  object  is  to  make  stalwart, 
independent,  self-supporting  men,  turned  out 
into  the  world  saplings  instead  of  stalwart 
oaks,  “ memory-glands  ” instead  of  brainy 
men,  helpless  instead  of  self-supporting, 
sickly  instead  of  robust,  weak  instead  of 
strong,  leaning  instead  of  erect.  “ So  many 
promising  youths,  and  never  a finished  man ! ” 

The  character  sympathizes  with  and  uncon- 
sciously takes  on  the  nature  of  the  body.  A 
peevish,  snarling,  ailing  man  can  not  develop 
the  vigor  and  strength  of  character  which  is 
possible  to  a healthy,  robust,  cheerful  man. 
There  is  an  inherent  love  in  the  human  mind 
for  wholeness,  a demand  that  man  shall  come 
up  to  the  highest  standard ; and  there  is  an  in- 
herent protest  or  contempt  for  preventable 
deficiency.  Nature,  too,  demands  that  man 
be  ever  at  the  top  of  his  condition. 

As  we  stand  upon  the  seashore  while  the 
tide  is  coming  in,  one  wave  reaches  up  the 
beach  far  higher  than  any  previous  one,  then 
recedes,  and  for  some  time  none  that  follows 
comes  up  to  its  mark,  but  after  a while  the 
whole  sea  is  there  and  beyond  it.  So  now 
and  then  there  comes  a man  head  and  shoul- 


WANTED— A MAN 


7 


ders  above  his  fellow  men,  showing  that  Na- 
ture has  not  lost  her  ideal,  and  after  a while 
even  the  average  man  will  overtop  the  high- 
est wave  of  manhood  yet  given  to  the  world. 

Apelles  hunted  over  Greece  for  many 
years,  studying  the  fairest  points  of  beautiful 
women,  getting  here  an  eye,  there  a forehead 
and  there  a nose,  here  a grace  and  there  a 
turn  of  beauty,  for  his  famous  portrait  of  a 
perfect  woman  which  enchanted  the  world. 
So  the  coming  man  will  be  a composite,  many 
in  one.  He  will  absorb  into  himself  not  the 
weakness,  not  the  follies,  but  the  strength 
and  the  virtues  of  other  types  of  men.  He 
will  be  a man  raised  to  the  highest  power. 
He  will  be  self-centered,  equipoised,  and  ever 
master  of  himself.  His  sensibility  will  not  be 
deadened  or  blunted  by  violation  of  Nature’s 
laws.  His  whole  character  will  be  impres- 
sionable, and  will  respond  to  the  most  delicate 
touches  of  Nature. 

The  first  requisite  of  all  education  and  dis- 
cipline should  be  man-timber.  Tough  timber 
must  come  from  well  grown,  sturdy  trees. 
Such  wood  can  be  turned  into  a mast,  can 
be  fashioned  into  a piano  or  an  exquisite 
carving.  But  it  must  become  timber  first. 
Time  and  patience  develop  the  sapling  into 


8 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


the  tree.  So  through  discipline,  education, 
experience,  the  sapling  child  is  developed 
into  hardy  mental,  moral,  physical  man- 
timber. 

If  the  youth  should  start  out  with  the  fixed 
determination  that  every  statement  he  makes 
shall  be  the  exact  truth ; that  every  promise 
he  makes  shall  be  redeemed  to  the  letter ; that 
every  appointment  shall  be  kept  wdth  the 
strictest  faithfulness  and  with  full  regard  for 
other  men’s  time ; if  he  should  hold  his  repu- 
tation as  a priceless  treasure,  feel  that  the 
eyes  of  the  world  are  upon  him,  that  he  must 
not  deviate  a hair’s  breadth  from  the  truth 
and  right ; if  he  should  take  such  a stand  at 
the  outset,  he  would,  like  George  Peabody, 
come  to  have  almost  unlimited  credit  and 
the  confidence  of  everybody  who  knows 
him. 

What  are  palaces  and  equipages ; what 
though  a man  could  cover  a continent  with 
his  title-deeds,  or  an  ocean  with  his  com- 
merce; compared  with  conscious  rectitude, 
with  a face  that  never  turns  pale  at  the 
accuser’s  voice,  with  a bosom  that  never 
throbs  with  fear  of  exposure,  with  a heart 
that  might  be  turned  inside  out  and  disclose 
no  stain  of  dishonor?  To  have  done  no  man 


WANTED— A MAN 


9 


a wrong;  to  have  put  your  signature  to  no 
paper  to  which  the  purest  angel  in  heaven 
might  not  have  been  an  attesting  witness ; to 
walk  and  live,  unseduced,  within  arm’s  length 
of  what  is  not  your  own,  with  nothing  be- 
tween your  desire  and  its  gratification  but  the 
invisible  law  of  rectitude ; — this  is  to  he  a 
man. 

Man  is  the  only  great  thing  in  the  universe. 
All  the  ages  have  been  trying  to  produce  a 
perfect  model.  Only  one  complete  man  has 
yet  been  evolved.  The  best  of  us  are  but 
prophecies  of  what  is  to  come. 

What  constitutes  a state? 

Not  high-raised  battlement  or  labored  mound. 

Thick  wall  or  moated  gate; 

Not. cities  proud  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned; 

Not  bays  and  broad-armed  ports. 

Where,  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride; 

Not  starred  and  spangled  courts. 

Where  low-browed  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 

No:  men,  high-minded  men. 

With  powers  as  far  above  dull  brutes  endued 
In  forest,  brake,  or  den. 

As  beasts  excel  cold  rocks  and  brambles  rude, — 
Men  who  their  duties  know. 

But  know  their  rights,  and  knowing,  dare  maintain. 
Prevent  the  long-aimed  blow. 

And  crush  the  tyrant  while  they  rend  the  chain. 

William  Jones. 


lO 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


God  give  us  men.  A time  like  this  demands 
Strong  minds,  great  hearts,  true  faith  and  ready 
hands : 

Men  whom  the  lust  of  office  does  not  kill; 

Men  whom  the  spoils  of  office  can  not  buy; 

Men  who  possess  opinions  and  a will; 

Men  who  have  honor — men  who  will  not  lie; 

Men  who  can  stand  before  a demagogue 
And  scorn  his  treacherous  flatteries  without  wink- 
ing; 

Tall  men  sun-crowned,  who  live  above  the  fog 
In  public  duty,  and  in  private  thinking. 

Anon, 


II.  DARE 


The  Spartans  did  not  inquire  how  many  the 
enemy  are,  but  where  they  are. — Agis  II. 

What’s  brave,  what’s  noble,  let’s  do  it  after  the 
high  Roman  fashion,  and  make  death  proud  to  take 
us. — Shakespeare. 

Let  me  die  facing  the  enemy. — Bayard. 

Who  conquers  me,  shall  find  a stubborn  foe. 

Byron. 

No  great  deed  is  done 
By  falterers  who  ask  for  certainty. 

George  Eliot. 

Fortune  befriends  the  bold. — Dryden. 

To  stand  with  a smile  upon  your  face  against  a 
stake  from  which  you  can  not  get  away — that,  no 
doubt,  is  heroic.  But  the  true  glory  is  resignation 
to  the  inevitable.  To  stand  unchained,  with  perfect 
liberty  to  go  away,  held  only  by  the  higher  claims 
of  duty,  and  let  the  fire  creep  up  to  the  heart, — this 
is  heroism. — F.  W.  Robertson. 

TEADY,  men!  Every  man 
must  die  where  he  stands  ! ” 
said  Colin  Campbell  to  the 
Ninety-third  Highlanders  at 
Balaklava,  as  an  overwhelm- 
ing force  of  Russian  cavalry 
came  sweeping  down.  “ Ay,  ay,  Sir  Colin ! 
we’ll  do  that ! ” was  the  response  from  men, 


II 


12 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


many  of  whom  had  to  keep  their  word  by 
thus  obeying. 

“ Bring  back  the  colors,”  shouted  a cap- 
tain at  the  battle  of  the  Alma,  when  an  ensign 
maintained  his  ground  in  front,  although  the 
men  were  retreating.  “ No,”  cried  the  en- 
sign, “ bring  up  the  men  to  the  colors.” 

“To  dare,  and  again  to  dare,  and  without 
end  to  dare,”  was  Danton’s  noble  defiance  to 
the  enemies  of  France.  “The  Commons  of 
France  have  resolved  to  deliberate,”  said 
Mirabeau  to  De  Breze,  who  brought  an 
order  from  the  king  for  them  to  disperse, 
June  23,  1789.  “ We  have  heard  the  inten- 
tions that  have  been  attributed  to  the  king; 
and  you,  sir,  who  can  not  be  recognized  as  his 
organ  in  the  National  Assembly, — you,  who 
have  neither  place,  voice,  nor  right  to  speak, 
— you  are  not  the  person  to  bring  to  us  a 
message  of  his.  Go,  say  to  those  who  sent 
you  that  we  are  here  by  the  power  of  the 
people,  and  that  we  will  not  be  driven  hence, 
save  by  the  power  of  the  bayonet.” 

When  the  assembled  senate  of  Rome 
begged  Regulus  not  to  return  to  Carthage  to 
fulfil  an  illegal  promise,  he  calmly  replied: 
“Have  you  resolved  to  dishonor  me?  Tor- 
ture and  death  are  awaiting  me,  but  what  are 


DARE 


13 


these  to  the  shame  of  an  infamous  act,  or  the 
wounds  of  a guilty  mind?  Slave  as  I am  to 
Carthage,  I still  have  the  spirit  of  a Roman. 
I have  sworn  to  return.  It  is  my  duty.  Let 
the  gods  take  care  of  the  rest.” 

The  courage  which  Cranmer  had  shown 
since  the  accession  of  Mary  gave  way  the 
moment  his  final  doom  was  announced.  The 
moral  cowardice  which  had  displayed  itself 
in  his  miserable  compliance  with  the  lust  and 
despotism  of  Henry  VIII.  displayed  itself 
again  in  six  successive  recantations  by  which 
he  hoped  to  purchase  pardon.  But  pardon 
was  impossible ; and  Cranmer’s  strangely 
mingled  nature  found  a power  in  its  very 
weakness  when  he  was  brought  into  the 
church  of  St.  Mary  at  Oxford  on  the  21st 
of  March,  to  repeat  his  recantation  on  the 
way  to  the  stake.  “ Now,”  ended  his  address 
to  the  hushed  congregation  before  him, — 
“ now  I come  to  the  great  thing  that  trou- 
bleth  my  conscience  more  than  any  other 
thing  that  ever  I said  or  did  in  my  life,  and 
that  is  the  setting  abroad  of  writings  con- 
trary to  the  truth ; which  here  I now  re- 
nounce and  refuse  as  things  written  by  a 
hand  contrary  to  the  truth  which  I thought 
in  my  heart,  and  written  for  fear  of  death. 


14 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


to  save  my  life,  if  it  might  be.  And,  foras- 
much as  my  hand  offended  in  writing  con- 
trary to  my  heart,  my  hand  therefore  shall 
be  the  first  punished ; for  if  I come  to  the 
fire  it  shall  be  the  first  burned.”  “ This  was 
the  hand  that  wrote  it,”  he  again  exclaimed 
at  the  stake,  “therefore  it  shall  suffer  first 
punishment  ” ; and  holding  it  steadily  in  the 
flame,  “ he  never  stirred  nor  cried  till  life 
was  gone.” 

A woman’s  piercing  shriek  suddenly  star- 
tled a party  of  surveyors  at  dinner  in  a forest 
of  northern  Virginia  on  a calm,  sunny  day  in 
1750.  The  cries  were  repeated  in  quick  suc- 
cession, and  the  men  sprang  through  the 
undergrowth  to  learn  their  cause.  “ Oh,  sir,” 
exclaimed  the  woman  as  she  caught  sight  of 
a youth  of  eighteen,  but  a man  in  stature  and 
bearing;  “you  will  surely  do  something  for 
me!  Make  these  friends  release  me.  My 
boy, — my  poor  boy  is  drowning,  and  they  will 
not  let  me  go ! ” “ It  would  be  madness ; she 
will  jump  into  the  river,”  said  one  of  the 
men  who  was  holding  her ; “ and  the  rapids 
would  dash  her  to  pieces  in  a moment ! ” 
Throwing  off  his  coat,  the  youth  sprang  to 
the  edge  of  the  bank,  scanned  for  a moment 
the  rocks  and  whirling  currents,  and  then,  at 


DARE 


15 


sight  of  part  of  the  boy’s  dress,  plunged  into 
the  roaring  rapids.  “ Thank  God,  he  will 
save  my  child ! ” cried  the  mother,  and  all 
rushed  to  the  brink  of  the  precipice ; “ there 
he  is ! Oh,  my  boy,  my  darling  boy ! How 
eould  I leave  you  ? ” 

'But  all  eyes  were  bent  upon  the  youth 
struggling  with  strong  heart  and  hope  amid 
the  dizzy  sweep  of  the  whirling  currents  far 
below.  Now  it  seemed  as  if  he  would  be 
dashed  against  a projecting  rock,  over  which 
the  water  flew  in  foam,  and  anon  a whirl- 
pool would  drag  him  in,  from  whose  grasp 
escape  would  seem  impossible.  Twice  the 
boy  went  out  of  sight,  but  he  had  reappeared 
the  second  time,  although  terribly  near  the 
most  dangerous  part  of  the  river.  The  rush 
of  waters  here  was  tremendous,  and  no  one 
had  ever  dared  to  approach  it,  even  in  a 
canoe,  lest  he  should  be  dashed  to  pieces. 
The  youth  redoubled  his  exertions.  Three 
times  he  was  about  to  grasp  the  child,  when 
some  stronger  eddy  would  toss  it  from  him. 
One  final  effort  he  makes ; the  child  is  held 
aloft  by  his  strong  right  arm ; but  a cry  of 
horror  bursts  from  the  lips  of  every  spec- 
tator as  boy  and  man  shoot  over  the  falls 
and  vanish  in  the  seething  waters  below. 


i6  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 

“ There  they  are ! ” shouted  the  mother  a 
moment  later,  in  a delirium  of  joy.  “See! 
they  are  safe ! Great  God,  I thank  Thee ! ” 
And  sure  enough,  they  emerged  unharmed 
from  the  boiling  vortex,  and  in  a few  min- 
utes reached  a low  place  in  the  bank  and 
were  drawn  up  by  their  friends,  the  boy 
senseless,  but  still  alive,  and  the  youth  almost 
exhausted.  “ God  will  give  you  a reward,” 
solemnly  spoke  the  grateful  woman.  “ He 
will  do  great  things  for  you  in  return  for 
this  day’s  work,  and  the  blessings  of  thou- 
sands besides  mine  will  attend  you.” 

The  youth  was  George  Washington. 

“ Your  Grace  has  not  the  organ  of  animal 
courage  largely  developed,”  said  a phrenolo- 
gist, who  was  examining  Wellington’s  head. 
“ You  are  right,”  replied  the  Iron  Duke, 
“ and  but  for  my  sense  of  duty  I should  have 
retreated  in  my  first  fight.”  That  first  fight, 
on  an  Indian  field,  was  one  of  the  most  ter- 
rible on  record. 

When  General  Jackson  was  a judge  and 
was  holding  court  in  a small  settlement,  a 
border  ruffian,  a murderer  and  desperado, 
came  into  the  court-room  with  brutal  violence 
and  interrupted  the  court.  The  judge  or- 
dered him  to  be  arrested.  The  officer  did 


DARE 


17 


not  dare  to  approach  him.  “ Call  a posse,” 
said  the  judge,  “ and  arrest  him.”  But  they 
also  shrank  in  fear  from  the  ruffian.  “ Call 
me,  then,”  said  Jackson ; “ this  court  is  ad- 
journed for  five  minutes.”  He  left  the  bench, 
walked  straight  up  to  the  man,  and  with  his 
eagle  eye  actually  cowed  the  ruffian,  who 
dropped  his  weapons,  afterwards  saying, 
“ There  was  something  in  his  eye  I could 
not  resist.” 

One  of  the  last  official  acts  of  Presi- 
dent Carnot,  of  France,  was  the  sending 
of  a medal  of  the  French  Legion  of  Honor 
to  a little  American  girl  who  lives  in  Indi- 
ana. While  a train  on  the  Pan  Handle  Rail- 
road, having  on  board  several  distinguished 
Frenchmen,  was  bound  to  Chicago  and  the 
World’s  Fair,  Jennie  Carey,  who  was  then 
ten  years  old,  discovered  that  a trestle  was 
on  fire,  and  that  if  the  train,  which  was 
nearly  due,  entered  it  a dreadful  wreck  would 
take  place.  Thereupon  she  ran  out  upon  the 
track  to  a place  where  she  could  be  seen  from 
some  little  distance.  Then  she  took  off  her 
red  flannel  skirt  and,  when  the  train  came  in 
view,  waved  it  back  and  forth  across  the 
track.  It  was  seen,  and  the  train  stopped. 
On  board  of  it  were  seven  hundred  people. 


i8  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 

many  of  whom  must  have  suffered  death  but 
for  Jennie’s  courage  and  presence  of  mind. 
When  they  returned  to  France,  the  French- 
men brought  the  occurrence  to  the  notice  of 
President  Carnot,  and  the  result  was  the 
sending  of  the  medal  of  this  famous  French 
society,  the  purpose  of  which  is  the  honoring 
of  bravery  and  merit,  wherever  they  may  be 
found. 

It  was  the  heroic  devotion  of  an  Indian 
girl  that  saved  the  life  of  Captain  John 
Smith,  when  the  powerful  King  Powhatan 
had  decreed  his  death.  Ill  could  the  strug- 
gling colony  spare  him  at  that  time. 

On  May  lo,  1796,  Napoleon  carried  the 
bridge  at  Lodi,  in  the  face  of  the  Austrian 
batteries.  Fourteen  cannon — some  accounts 
say  thirty — were  trained  upon  the  French 
end  of  the  structure.  Behind  them  were  six 
thousand  troops.  Napoleon  massed  four 
thousand  grenadiers  at  the  head  of  the 
bridge,  with  a battalion  of  three  hundred 
carbineers  in  front.  At  the  tap  of  the  drum 
the  foremost  assailants  wheeled  from  the 
cover  of  the  street  wall  under  a terrible  hail 
of  grape  and  canister,  and  attempted  to  pass 
the  gateway  to  the  bridge.  The  front  ranks 
went  down  like  stalks  of  grain  before  a 


DARE 


19 


reaper;  the  column  staggered  and  reeled 
backward,  and  the  valiant  grenadiers  were 
appalled  by  the  task  before  them.  Without  a 
word  or  a look  of  reproach,  Napoleon  placed 
himself  at  their  head,  and  his  aides  and  gen- 
erals rushed  to  his  side.  Forward  again,  this 
time  over  heaps  of  dead  that  choked  the  pass- 
age, and  a quick  run,  counted  by  seconds 
only,  carried  the  column  across  two  hundred 
yards  of  clear  space,  scarcely  a shot  from 
the  Austrians  taking  effect  beyond  the  point 
where  the  platoons  wheeled  for  the  first  leap. 
So  sudden  and  so  miraculous  was  it  all  that 
the  Austrian  artillerists  abandoned  their  guns 
instantly,  and  instead  of  rushing  to  the  front 
and  meeting  the  French  onslaught,  their  sup- 
ports fled  in  a panic.  This  Napoleon  had 
counted  on  in  making  the  bold  attack.  The 
contrast  between  Napoleon’s  slight  figure  and 
the  massive  grenadiers  suggested  the  nick- 
name “ Little  Corporal.” 

When  Stephen  of  Colonna  fell  into  the 
hands  of  base  assailants,  they  asked  him  in 
derision,  “Where  is  now  your  fortress?'”’ 
“ Here,”  was  his  bold  reply,  placing  his  hand 
upon  his  heart. 

After  the  Mexican  War  General  Mc- 
Clellan was  employed  as  a topographical  en- 


20 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


gineer  in  surveying  the  Pacific  coast.  From 
his  headquarters  at  Vancouver  he  had  gone 
on  an  exploring  expedition  with  two  com- 
panions, a soldier  and  a servant,  when  one 
evening  he  received  word  that  the  chiefs  of 
the  Columbia  River  tribes  desired  to  confer 
with  him.  From  the  messenger’s  manner  he 
suspected  that  the  Indians  meant  mischief, 
and  so  he  warned  his  companions  that  they 
must  be  ready  to  leave  camp  at  a moment’s 
notice. 

Mounting  his  horse,  he  rode  boldly  into  the 
Indian  village.  About  thirty  chiefs  Avere 
holding  council.  McClellan  was  led  into  the 
circle,  and  placed  at  the  right  hand  of  Sal- 
tese.  He  was  familiar  with  the  Chinook 
jargon,  and  could  understand  every  wmrd 
spoken  in  the  council.  Saltese  made  known 
the  grievance  of  the  tribes.  Two  Indians  had 
been  captured  by  a party  of  white  pioneers 
and  hanged  for  theft.  Retaliation  for  this 
outrage  seemed  imperative.  The  chiefs 
pondered  long,  but  had  little  to  say.  McClel- 
lan had  been  on  friendly  terms  with  them, 
and  was  not  responsible  for  the  forest  exe- 
cutions, but  still,  he  was  a white  man,  and 
the  chiefs  had  vowed  vengeance  against  the 
race.  The  council  was  prolonged  for  hours 


DARE 


21 


before  sentence  was  passed,  and  then  Saltese, 
in  the  name  of  the  head  men  of  the  tribes, 
decreed  that  McClellan  should  immediately 
be  put  to  death. 

McClellan  said  nothing.  He  had  known 
that  argument  and  pleas  for  justice  or  mercy 
would  be  of  no  avail.  He  sat  motionless,  ap- 
parently indifferent  to  his  fate.  By  his  list- 
lessness he  had  thrown  his  captors  off  their 
guard.  When  the  sentence  was  passed  he 
acted  like  a flash.  Flinging  his  left  arm 
around  the  neck  of  Saltese,  he  whipped  out 
his  revolver  and  held  it  close  to  the  chief’s 
temple.  “ Revoke  that  sentence,  or  I shall 
kill  you  this  instant ! ” he  cried,  with  his  fin- 
gers clicking  the  trigger.  “ I revoke  it ! ” ex- 
claimed Saltese,  fairly  livid  from  fear.  “ I 
must  have  your  word  that  I can  leave  this 
council  in  safety.”  “ You  have  the  word  of 
Saltese,”  was  the  quick  response. 

McClellan  knew  how  sacred  was  the  pledge 
which  he  had  received.  The  revolver  was 
lowered.  Saltese  was  released  from  the  em- 
brace of  the  strong  arm.  McClellan  strode 
out  of  the  tent  with  his  revolver  in  his  hand. 
'Not  a hand  was  raised  against  him.  He 
mounted  his  horse  and  rode  to  his  camp, 
where  his  two  followers  were  ready  to  spring 


22 


RISING  IN  [THE  WORLD 


into  the  saddle  and  to  escape  from  the  vil- 
lages. He  owed  his  life  to  his  quickness  of 
perception,  his  courage,  and  to  his  accurate 
knowledge  of  Indian  character. 

In  1856,  Rufus  Choate  spoke  to  an  audi- 
ence of  nearly  five  thousand  in  Lowell,  Mass., 
in  favor  of  the  candidacy  of  James  Buchanan 
for  the  presidency.  The  floor  of  the  great 
hall  began  to  sink,  settling  more  and  more 
as  he  proceeded  with  his  address,  until  a 
sound  of  cracking  timber  below  would  have 
precipitated  a stampede  with  fatal  results  but 
for  the  coolness  of  B.  F.  Butler,  who  pre- 
sided. Telling  the  people  to  remain  quiet,  he 
said  that  he  would  see  if  there  were  any 
cause  for  alarm.  He  found  the  supports  of 
the  floor  in  so  bad  a condition  that  the  slight- 
est applause  would  be  likely  to  bury  the  audi- 
ence in  the  ruins  of  the  building.  Returning 
rather  leisurely  to  the  platform,  he  whispered 
to  Choate  as  he  passed,  “We  shall  all  be  in 

in  five  minutes  ” ; then  he  told  the  crowd 

that  there  was  no  immediate  danger  if  they 
would  slowly  disperse.  The  post  of  danger, 
he  added,  was  on  the  platform,  which 
was  most  weakly  supported,  therefore  he  and 
those  with  him  would  be  the  last  to  leave.  No 
doubt  many  lives  were  saved  by  his  coolness. 


DARE 


23 


Many  distinguished  foreign  and  American 
statesmen  were  present  at  a fashionable  din- 
ner party  where  wine  was  freely  poured,  but 
Schuyler  Colfax,  then  vice-president  of  the 
United  States,  declined  to  drink  from  a prof- 
fered cup.  “ Colfax  dares  not  drink,”  sneered 
a Senator  who  had  already  taken  too  much. 
“ You  are  right,”  said  the  Vice-President, 
“ I dare  not.” 

When  Grant  was  in  Houston  many  years 
ago,  he  was  given  a rousing  reception.  Nat- 
urally hospitable,  and  naturally  inclined  to 
like  a man  of  Grant’s  make-up,  the  Hous- 
tonites determined  to  go  beyond  any  other 
Southern  city  in  the  way  of  a banquet  and 
other  manifestations  of  their  good-will  and 
hospitality.  They  made  lavish  preparations 
for  the  dinner,  the  committee  taking  great 
pains  to  have  the  finest  wines  that  could  be 
procured  for  the  table  that  night.  When  the 
time  came  to  serve  the  wine,  the  head- 
waiter  went  first  to  Grant.  Without  a 
word  the  general  quietly  turned  down  all  the 
glasses  at  his  plate.  This  movement  was  a 
great  surprise  to  the  Texans,  but  they  were 
equal  to  the  occasion.  Without  a single  word 
being  spoken,  every  man  along  the  line  of 
the  long  tables  turned  his  glasses  down,  and 


24 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


there  was  not  a drop  of  wine  taken  that 
night. 

Two  French  officers  at  Waterloo  were  ad- 
vancing to  charge  a greatly  superior  force. 
One,  observing  that  the  other  showed  signs 
of  fear,  said,  “ Sir,  I believe  you  are  fright- 
ened.” “ Yes,  I am,”  was  the  reply,  “ and 
if  you  were  half  as  much  frightened,  you 
would  run  away.” 

“ That’s  a brave  man,”  said  Wellington, 
when  he  saw  a soldier  turn  pale  as  he 
marched  against  a battery ; “ he  knows  his 
danger,  and  faces  it.” 

“ There  are  many  cardinals  and  bishops  at 
Worms,”  said  a friend  to  Luther,  “ and  they 
will  burn  your  body  to  ashes  as  they  did  that 
of  John  Huss.”  Luther  replied;  “Although 
they  should  make  a fire  that  should  reach 
from  Worms  to  Wittenberg,  and  that  should 
flame  up  to  heaven,  in  the  Lord’s  name  I 
would  pass  through  it  and  appear  before 
them.”  He  said  to  another ; “ I would  enter 
Worms  though  there  were  as  many  devils 
there  as  there  are  tiles  upon  the  roofs  of  the 
houses.”  Another  man  said  to  him ; “ Duke 
George  will  surely  arrest  you.”  He  replied: 
“ It  is  my  duty  to  go,  and  I will  go,  though 
it  rain  Duke  Georges  for  nine  days  together.” 


DARE 


25 


A Western  paper  recently  invited  the  sur- 
viving Union  and  Confederate  officers  to  give 
an  account  of  the  bravest  act  observed  by 
each  during  the  Civil  War.  Colonel  Thomas 
Wentworth  Higginson  said  that  at  a dinner 
at  Beaufort,  S.  C.,  where  wine  flowed  freely 
and  ribald  jests  were  bandied,  Dr.  Miner,  a 
slight,  boyish  fellow  who  did  not  drink,  was 
told  that  he  could  not  go  until  he  had  drunk 
a toast,  told  a story,  or  sung  a song.  He 
replied : “ I can  not  sing,  but  I will  give  a 

toast,  although  I must  drink  it  in  water.  It 
is  ‘ Our  Mothers.’  ” The  men  were  so  af- 
fected and  ashamed  that  they  took  him  by 
the  hand  and  thanked  him  for  displaying 
such  admirable  moral  courage. 

It  takes  courage  for  a young  man  to  stand 
firmly  erect  while  others  are  bowing  and 
fawning  for  praise  and  power.  It  takes 
courage  to  wear  threadbare  clothes  while 
your  comrades  dress  in  broadcloth.  It  takes 
courage  to  remain  in  honest  poverty  when 
others  grow  rich  by  fraud.  It  takes  courage 
to  say  “No”  squarely  when  those  around 
you  say  “ Yes.”  It  takes  courage  to  do  your 
duty  in  silence  and  obscurity  while  others 
prosper  and  grow  famous  although  neglect- 
ing sacred  obligations.  It  takes  courage  to 


26 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


unmask  your  true  self,  to  show  your  blem- 
ishes to  a condemning  world,  and  to  pass 
for  what  you  really  are. 

It  takes  courage  and  pluck  to  be  outvoted, 
beaten,  laughed  at,  scoffed,  ridiculed,  derided, 
misunderstood,  misjudged,  to  stand  alone 
with  all  the  world  against  you,  but 

“They  are  slaves  who  dare  not  be 
In  the  right  with  two  or  three.” 

“ An  honest  man  is  not  the  worse  because 
a dog  barks  at  him.” 

We  live  ridiculously  for  fear  of  being 
thought  ridiculous, 

“’Tis  he  is  the  coward  who  proves  false  to  his 
vows. 

To  his  manhood,  his  honor,  for  a laugh  or  a 
sneer.” 

The  youth  who  starts  out  by  being  afraid 
to  speak  what  he  thinks  will  usually  end  by 
being  afraid  to  think  what  he  wishes. 

How  we  shrink  from  an  act  of  our  own ! 
We  live  as  others  live.  Custom  or  fashion, 
or  your  doctor  or  minister,  dictates,  and  they 
in  turn  dare  not  depart  from  their  schools. 
Dress,  living,  servants,  carriages,  everything 
must  confonn,  or  we  are  ostracized.  Who 


DARE 


27 


dares  conduct  his  household  or  business  af- 
fairs in  his  own  way,  and  snap  his  fingers  at 
Dame  Grundy? 

It  takes  courage  for  a public  man  not  to 
bend  the  knee  to  popular  prejudice.  It  takes 
courage  to  refuse  to  follow  custom  when  it 
is  injurious  to  his  health  and  morals.  How 
much  easier  for  a politician  to  prevaricate 
and  dodge  an  issue  than  to  stand  squarely  on 
his  feet  like  a man ! 

As  the  strongest  man  has  a weakness 
somewhere,  so  the  greatest  hero  is  a coward 
somewhere.  Peter  was  courageous  enough  to 
draw  his  sword  to  defend  his  Master,  but  he 
could  not  stand  the  ridicule  and  the  finger  of 
scorn  of  the  maidens  in  the  high  priest’s  hall, 
and  he  actually  denied  even  the  acquaintance 
of  the  Master  he  had  declared  he  would  die 
for. 

Don’t  be  like  Uriah  Keep,  begging  every- 
body’s pardon  for  taking  the  liberty  of  being 
in  the  world.  There  is  nothing  attractive  in 
timidity,  nothing  lovable  in  fear.  Both  are 
deformities  and  are  repulsive.  Manly  cour- 
age is  always  dignified  and  graceful. 

Bruno,  condemned  to  be  burned  alive  in 
Rome,  said  to  his  judge:  “You  are  more 
afraid  to  pronounce  my  sentence  than  I am 


28 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


to  receive  it.”  Anne  Askew,  racked  until 
her  bones  were  dislocated,  never  flinched, 
but  looked  her  tormentor  calmly  in  the  face 
and  refused  to  abjure  her  faith. 

“ I should  have  thought  fear  would  have 
kept  you  from  going  so  far,”  said  a relative 
who  found  the  little  boy  Nelson  wandering  a 
long  distance  from  home.  “Fear?”  said  the 
future  admiral,  “ I don’t  know  him.” 

“To  think  a thing  is  impossible  is  to  make 
it  so.”  Courage  is  victory,  timidity  is  de- 
feat. 

That  simple  shepherd-lad,  David,  fresh 
from  his  flocks,  marching  unattended  and 
unarmed,  save  with  his  shepherd’s  staff  and 
sling,  to  confront  the  colossal  Goliath  with 
his  massive  armor,  is  the  sublimest  audacity 
the  world  has  ever  seen. 

“ Dent,  I wish  you  would  get  down  and 
see  what  is  the  matter  with  that  leg  there,” 
said  Grant,  when  he  and  Colonel  Dent  were 
riding  through  the  thickest  of  a fire  that  had 
become  so  concentrated  and  murderous  that 
his  troops  had  all  been  driven  back.  “ I guess 
looking  after  your  horse’s  legs  can  wait,” 
said  Dent ; “ it  is  simply  murder  for  us  to 
sit  here.”  “ All  right,”  said  Grant ; “ if  you 
don’t  want  to  see  to  it,  I will.”  He  dis- 


DARE 


29 


mounted,  untwisted  a piece  of  telegraph  wire 
which  had  begun  to  cut  the  horse’s  leg,  ex- 
amined it  deliberately,  and  climbed  into  his 
saddle.  “ Dent,”  said  he,  “ when  you’ve  got 
a horse  that  you  think  a great  deal  of,  you 
should  never  take  any  chances  with  him.  If 
that  wire  had  been  left  there  for  a little  time 
longer  he  would  have  gone  dead  lame,  and 
would  perhaps  have  been  ruined  for  life.” 

Wellington  said  that  at  Waterloo  the  hot- 
test of  the  battle  raged  round  a farmhouse, 
with  an  orchard  surrounded  by  a thick  hedge, 
which  was  so  important  a point  in  the  British 
position  that  orders  were  given  to  hold  it  at 
any  hazard  or  sacrifice.  At  last  the  powder 
and  ball  ran  short  and  the  hedges  took  fire, 
surrounding  the  orchard  with  a wall  of  flame. 
A messenger  had  been  sent  for  ammunition, 
and  soon  two  loaded  wagons  came  galloping 
toward  the  farmhouse.  “ The  driver  of  the 
first  wagon,  with  the  reckless  daring  of  an 
English  boy,  spurred  his  struggling  and  ter- 
rified horses  through  the  burning  heap ; but 
the  flames  rose  fiercely  round,  and  caught  the 
powder,  which  exploded  in  an  instant,  send- 
ing wagon,  horses,  and  rider  in  fragments 
into  the  air.  For  an  instant  the  driver  of 
the  second  wagon  paused,  appalled  by  his 


30 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


comrade’s  fate ; the  next,  observing  that  the 
flames,  beaten  back  for  the  moment  by  the 
explosion,  afforded  him  one  desperate  chance, 
sent  his  horses  at  the  smoldering  breach 
and,  amid  the  deafening  cheers  of  the  gar- 
rison, landed  his  terrible  cargo  safely  within. 
Behind  him  the  flames  closed  up,  and  raged 
more  fiercely  than  ever.” 

At  the  battle  of  Friedland  a cannon-ball 
came  over  the  heads  of  the  French  soldiers, 
and  a young  soldier  instinctively  dodged. 
Napoleon  looked  at  him  and  smilingly  said : 
“ My  friend,  if  that  ball  were  destined  for 
you,  though  you  were  to  burrow  a hundred 
feet  under  ground  it  would  be  sure  to  find 
you  there.” 

When  the  mine  in  front  of  Petersburg  was 
finished  the  fuse  was  lighted  and  the  Union 
troops  were  drawn  up  ready  to  charge  the 
enemy’s  works  as  soon  as  the  explosion  should 
make  a breach.  But  seconds,  minutes,  and 
tens  of  minutes  passed,  without  a sound  from 
the  mine,  and  the  suspense  became  painful. 
Lieutenant  Doughty  and  Sergeant  Rees  vol- 
unteered to  examine  the  fuse.  Through  the 
long  subterranean  galleries  they  hurried  in 
silence,  not  knowing  but  that  they  were  •ad- 
vancing to  a horrible  death.  They  found  the 


DARE 


31 


defect,  fired  the  train  anew,  and  soon  a ter- 
rible upheaval  of  earth  gave  the  signal  to 
march  to  victory. 

At  the  battle  of  Copenhagen,  as  Nelson 
walked  the  deck  slippery  with  blood  and  cov- 
ered with  the  dead,  he  said : “ This  is  warm 
work,  and  this  day  may  be  the  last  to  any 
of  us  in  a moment.  But,  mark  me,  I would 
not  be  elsewhere  for  thousands.”  At  the 
battle  of  Trafalgar,  when  he  was  shot  and 
was  being  carried  below,  he  covered  his  face, 
that  those  fighting  might  not  know  their  chief 
had  fallen. 

In  a skirmish  at  Salamanca,  while  the  en- 
emy’s guns  were  pouring  shot  into  his  regi- 
ment, Sir  William  Napier’s  men  became  dis- 
obedient. He  at  once  ordered  a halt,  and 
flogged  four  of  the  ringleaders  under  fire. 
The  men  yielded  at  once,  and  then  marched 
three  miles  under  a heavy  cannonade  as 
coolly  as  if  it  were  a review. 

Execute  your  resolutions  immediately. 
Thoughts  are  but  dreams  until  their  effects  be 
tried.  Does  competition  trouble  you?  work 
away;  what  is  your  'competitor  but  a man? 
Conquer  your  place  in  the  zuorld,  for  all 
things  serve  a brave  soul.  Combat  difficulty 
manfully;  sustain  misfortune  bravely;  endure 


32 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


poverty  nobly ; encounter  disappointment 
courageously.  The  influence  of  the  brave 
man  is  contagious  and  creates  an  epidemic  of 
noble  zeal  in  all  about  him.  Every  day  sends 
to  the  grave  obscure  men  who  have  only  re- 
mained in  obscurity  because  their  timidity  has 
prevented  them  from  making  a first  effort ; 
and  who,  if  they  could  have  been  induced  to 
begin,  would  in  all  probability  have  gone 
great  lengths  in  the  career  of  usefulness  and 
fame.  “ No  great  deed  is  done,”  says  George 
Eliot,  “by  falterers  who  ask  for  certainty.” 

After  the  great  inward  struggle  was  over, 
and  he  had  determined  to  remain  loyal  to 
his  principles,  Thomas  More  walked  cheer- 
fully to  the  block.  His  wife  called  him  a fool 
for  staying  in  a dark,  damp,  filthy  prison  when 
he  might  have  his  liberty  by  merely  renounc- 
ing his  doctrines,  as  some  of  the  bishops  had 
done.  But  Thomas  More  preferred  death  to 
dishonor. 

His  daughter  showed  the  power  of  love  to 
drive  away  fear.  She  remained  true  to  her 
father  when  all  others,  even  her  mother,  had 
forsaken  him.  After  his  head  had  been  cut 
off  and  exhibited  on  a pole  on  London 
Bridge,  the  poor  girl  begged  it  of  the  au- 
thorities, and  requested  that  it  be  buried  in 


DARE  33 

the  coffin  with  her.  Her  request  was  granted, 
for  her  death  soon  occurred. 

When  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  came  to  the  scaf- 
fold he  was  very  faint,  and  began  his  speech 
to  the  crowd  by  saying  that  during  the  last 
two  days  he  had  been  visited  by  two  ague 
fits.  “ If,  therefore,  you  perceive  any  weak- 
ness in  me,  I beseech  you  ascribe  it  to  my 
sickness  rather  than  to  myself.”  He  took  the 
ax  and  kissed  the  blade,  and  said  to  the 
sheriff : “ ’T  is  a sharp  medicine,  but  a sound 
cure  for  all  diseases.” 

Don’t  waste  time  dreaming  of  obstacles 
you  may  never  encounter,  or  in  crossing 
bridges  you  have  not  reached.  To  half  will 
and  to  hang  forever  in  the  balance  is  to  lose 
your  grip  on  life, 

Abraham  Lincoln’s  boyhood  was  one  long 
struggle  with  poverty,  with  little  education, 
and  no  influential  friends.  When  at  last 
he  had  begun  the  practise  of  law,  it  required 
no  little  courage  to  cast  his  fortune  with 
the  weaker  side  in  politics,  and  thus  im- 
peril what  small  reputation  he  had  gained. 
Only  the  most  sublime  moral  courage  could 
have  sustained  him  as  President  to  hold  his 
ground  against  hostile  criticism  and  a long 
train  of  disaster ; to  issue  the  Emancipation 


34 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Proclamation,  to  support  Grant  and  Stanton 
against  the  clamor  of  the  politicians  and  the 
press. 

Lincoln  never  shrank  from  espousing  an 
unpopular  cause  when  he  believed  it  to  be 
right.  At  the  time  when  it  almost  cost  a 
young  lawyer  his  bread  and  butter  to  defend 
the  fugitive  slave,  and  when  other  lawyers 
had  refused,  Lincoln  would  always  plead  the 
cause  of  the  unfortunate  whenever  an  oppor- 
tunity presented.  “ Go  to  Lincoln,”  people 
would  say,  when  these  hounded  fugitives 
were  seeking  protection ; “ he’s  not  afraid  of 
any  cause,  if  it’s  right.” 

Then  to  side  with  Truth  is  noble  when  we  share 
her  wretched  crust, 

Ere  her  cause  bring  fame  and  profit,  and  ’tis  pros- 
perous to  be  just: 

Then  it  is  the  brave  man  chooses,  while  the  coward 
stands  aside. 

Doubting  in  his  abject  spirit,  till  bis  Lord  is  cruci- 
fied. Lowell 

As  Salmon  P.  Chase  left  the  court  room 
after  an  impassioned  plea  for  the  runaway 
slave  girl  Matilda,  a man  looked  at  him  in 
surprise  and  said : “ There  goes  a fine  young 
fellow  who  has  just  ruined  himself.”  But  in 
thus  ruining  himself  Chase  had  taken  the 
first  important  step  in  a career  in  which  he 


DARE 


35 


became  Governor  of  Ohio,  United  States 
Senator  from  Ohio,  Secretary  of  the  United 
States  Treasury,  and  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court. 

At  the  trial  of  William  Penn  for  having 
spoken  at  a Quaker  meeting,  the  recorder, 
not  satisfied  with  the  first  verdict,  said  to 
the  jury:  “We  will  have  a verdict  by  the 
help  of  God,  or  you  shall  starve  for  it.” 
“ You  are  Englishmen,”  said  Penn ; “ mind 
your  privileges,  give  not  away  your  right.” 
At  last  the  jury,  after  two  days  and  two 
nights  without  food,  returned  a verdict  of 
“ Not  guilty.”  The  recorder  fined  them  forty 
marks  apiece  for  their  independence. 

What  cared  Christ  for  the  jeers  of  the 
crowd?  The  palsied  hand  moved,  the  blind 
saw,  the  leper  was  made  whole,  the  dead 
spake,  despite  the  ridicule  and  scoffs  of  the 
spectators. 

What  cared  Wendell  Phillips  for  rotten 
eggs,  derisive  scorn,  and  hisses?  In  him 
“ at  last  the  scornful  world  had  met  its 
match.”  Were  Beecher  and  Gough  to  be 
silenced  by  the  rude  English  mobs  that  came 
to  extinguish  them?  No!  they  held  their 
ground  and  compelled  unwilling  thousands 
to  hear  and  to  heed.  Did  Anna  Dickinson 


36  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


leave  the  platform  when  the  pistol  bullets  of 
the  Molly  Maguires  flew  about  her  head? 
She  silenced  those  pistols  by  her  courage  and 
her  arguments. 

What  the  world  wants  is  a Knox,  who 
dares  to  preach  on  with  a musket  leveled  at 
his  head ; a Garrison,  who  is  not  afraid  of 
a jail,  or  a mob,  or  a scaffold  erected  in  front 
of  his  door. 

When  General  Butler  was  sent  with  nine 
thousand  men  to  quell  the  New  York  riots, 
he  arrived  in  advance  of  his  troops,  and 
found  the  streets  thronged  with  an  angry 
mob,  which  had  already  hanged  several  men 
to  lamp-posts.  Without  waiting  for  his  men, 
Butler  went  to  the  place  where  the  crowd 
was  most  dense,  overturned  an  ash  barrel, 
stood  upon  it,  and  began : “ Delegates  from 
Five  Points,  fiends  from  hell,  you  have  mur- 
dered your  superiors,”  and  the  bloodstained 
crowd  quailed  before  the  courageous  w'ords 
of  a single  man  in  a city  which  hlayor  Fer- 
nando Wood  could  not  restrain  with  the  aid 
of  police  and  militia. 

“ Our  enemies  are  before  us,”  exclaimed 
the  Spartans  at  Thermopylae.  “ And  we  are 
before  them,”  was  the  cool  reply  of  Leoni- 
das. " Deliver  your  arms,”  came  the  mes- 


DARE  37 

sage  from  Xerxes.  “ Come  and  take  them,” 
was  the  answer  Leonidas  sent  back.  A Per- 
sian soldier  said:  “You  will  not  be  able  to 
see  the  sun  for  flying  javelins  and  arrows.” 
“ Then  we  will  fight  in  the  shade,”  replied  a 
Lacedemonian.  What  wonder  that  a handful 
of  such  men  checked  the  march  of  the  great- 
est host  that  ever  trod  the  earth ! 

“ It  is  impossible,”  said  a staff  officer,  when 
Napoleon  gave  directions  for  a daring  plan. 
“ Impossible ! ” thundered  the  great  com- 
mander, “ impossible  is  the  adjective  of 
fools ! ” 

The  courageous  man  is  an  example  to  the 
intrepid.  His  influence  is  magnetic.  Men 
follow  him,  even  to  the  death. 

Men  who  have  dared  have  moved  the 
world,  often  before  reaching  the  prime  of 
life.  It  is  astonishing  what  daring  to  begin 
and  perseverance  have  enabled  even  youths 
to  achieve.  Alexander,  who  ascended  the 
throne  at  twenty,  had  conquered  the  known 
world  before  dying  at  thirty-three.  Julius 
Caesar  captured  eight  hundred  cities,  scon- 
Jquered  three  hundred  nations,  defeated 
three  million  men,  became  a great  orator  and 
one  of  the  greatest  statesmen  known,  and 
still  was  a young  man.  Washington  was  ap- 


38  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


pointed  adjutant-general  at  nineteen,  was  sent 
at  twenty-one  as  an  ambassador  to  treat  with 
the  French,  and  won  his  first  battle  as  a 
colonel  at  twenty-two.  Lafayette  was  made 
general  of  the  whole  French  Army  at  twenty, 
Charlemagne  was  master  of  France  and  Ger- 
many at  thirty.  Galileo  was  but  eighteen 
when  he  saw  the  principle  of  the  pendulum 
in  the  swing  lamp  in  the  cathedral  at  Pisa. 
Peel  was  in  Parliament  at  twenty-one.  Glad- 
stone was  in  Parliament  before  he  was 
twenty-two,  and  at  twenty-four  he  was  Lord 
of  the  Treasury.  Elizabeth  Barrett  Brown- 
ing was  proficient  in  Greek  and  Latin  at 
twelve ; De  Quincey  at  eleven.  Robert 
Browning  wrote  at  eleven  poetry  of  no  mean 
order.  Cowley,  who  sleeps  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  published  a volume  of  poems  at  fif- 
teen. Luther  was  but  twenty-nine  when  he 
nailed  his  famous  thesis  to  the  door  of  the 
bishop  and  defied  the  pope.  Nelson  was  a 
lieutenant  in  the  British  Navy  before  he  was 
twenty.  He  was  but  forty-seven  when  he 
received  his  death  wound  at  Trafalgar.  At 
thirty-six,  Cortez  was  the  conqueror  of  Mex- 
ico ; at  thirty-two,  Clive  had  established  the 
British  power  in  India.  Hannibal,  the  great- 
est of  military  commanders,  was  only  thirty 


DARE 


39 


when,  at  Cannse,  he  dealt  an  almost  annihilat- 
ing blow  at  the  republic  of  Rome,  and  Na- 
poleon was  only  twenty-seven  when,  on  the 
plains  of  Italy,  he  outgeneraled  and  defeated, 
one  after  another,  the  veteran  marshals  of 
Austria. 

Equal  courage  and  resolution  are  often 
shown  by  men  who  have  passed  the  allotted 
limit  of  life.  Victor  Hugo  and  Wellington 
were  both  in  their  prime  after  they  had 
reached  the  age  of  threescore  years  and  ten. 
Gladstone  ruled  England  with  a strong  hand 
at  eighty- four,  and  was  a marvel  of  literary 
and  scholarly  ability. 

Shakespeare  says : “ He  is  not  worthy  of 

the  honeycomb  that  shuns  the  hive  because 
the  bees  have  stings.” 

"The  brave  man  is  not  he  who  feels  no  fear. 

For  that  were  stupid  and  irrational; 

But  he  whose  noble  soul  its  fear  subdues 
And  bravely  dares  the  danger  nature  shrinks 
from.” 

Many  a bright  youth  has  accomplished 
nothing  of  worth  to  himself  or  the  world 
simply  because  he  did  not  dare  to  commence 
things. 

Begin ! Begin ! Begin ! ! ! 


40 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Whatever  people  may  think  of  you,  do  that  which 
you  believe  to  be  right.  Be  alike  indifferent  to 
censure  or  praise. — Pythagoras. 

I dare  to  do  all  that  may  become  a man: 

Who  dares  do  more  is  none. 

Shakespeare. 

For  man’s  great  actions  are  performed  in  minor 
struggles.  There  are  obstinate  and  unknown 
braves  who  defend  themselves  inch  by  inch  in  the 
shadows  against  the  fatal  invasion  of  want  and 
turpitude.  There  are  noble  and  mysterious  tri- 
umphs which  no  eye  sees,  no  renown  rewards,  and 
no  flourish  of  trumpets  salutes.  Life,  misfortune, 
isolation,  abandonment,  and  poverty  are  battlefields 
which  have  their  heroes. — Victor  Hugo. 

Quit  yourselves  like  men. — i Samuel  iv.  9. 


III.  THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY 


“ I will  find  a way  or  make  one.” 

Nothing  is  impossible  to  the  man  who  can  will. 
— Mirabeau. 

The  iron  will  of  one  stout  heart  shall  make  a 
thousand  quail : 

A feeble  dwarf,  dauntlessly  resolved,  will  turn  the 
tide  of  battle. 

And  rally  to  a nobler  strife  the  giants  that  had 
fled.  Tupper. 

In  the  lexicon  of  youth  which  fate  reserves  for 
a bright  manhood  there  is  no  such  word  as  fail. 
— Bulwer. 

When  a firm  and  decisive  spirit  is  recognized,  it 
is  curious  to  see  how  the  space  clears  around  a 
man  and  leaves  him  room  and  freedom. — John 
Foster. 

S well  can  the  Prince  of 
Orange  pluck  the  stars  from 
the  sky,  as  bring  the  ocean  to 
the  wall  of  Leyden  for  your 
relief,”  was  the  derisive 
shout  of  the  Spanish  soldiers 
when  told  that  the  Dutch  fleet  would  raise 
that  terrible  four  months’  siege  of  1 574.  But 
from  the  parched  lips  of  William,  tossing  on 
his  bed  of  fever  at  Rotterdam,  had  issued  the 
command : “ Break  down  the  dikes:  give  Hol- 
41 


42 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


land  hack  to  ocean!”  and  the  people  had  re- 
plied : “ Better  a drowned  land  than  a lost 
land.”  They  began  to  demolish  dike  after 
dike  of  the  strong  lines,  ranged  one  within 
another  for  fifteen  miles  to  their  city  of  the 
interior.  It  was  an  enormous  task;  the  gar- 
rison was  starving ; and  the  besiegers  laughed 
in  scorn  at  the  slow  progress  of  the  puny  in- 
sects who  sought  to  rule  the  waves  of  the 
sea.  But  ever,  as  of  old,  Heaven  aids  those 
who  help  themselves.  On  the  first  and  second 
.of  October  a violent  equinoctial  gale  rolled 
the  ocean  inland,  and  swept  the  fleet  on  the 
rising  waters  almost  to  the  camp  of  the  Span- 
iards. The  next  morning  the  garrison  sallied 
out  to  attack  their  enemies,  but  the  besiegers 
had  fled  in  terror  under  cover  of  the  dark- 
ness. The  next  day  the  wind  changed,  and  a 
counter  tempest  brushed  the  water,  with  the 
fleet  upon  it,  from  the  surface  of  Holland. 
The  outer  dikes  were  replaced  at  once,  leaving 
the  North  Sea  within  its  old  bounds.  When 
the  flowers  bloomed  the  following  spring,  a 
joyous  procession  marched  through  the 
streets  to  found  the  University  of  Leyden,  in 
commemoration  of  the  wonderful  deliverance 
of  the  city. 

At  a dinner  party  given  in  1837,  at  the  resi- 


THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY  43 


dence  of  Chancellor  Kent,  in  New  York  City, 
some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  the 
country  were  invited,  and  among  them  was 
a young  and  rather  melancholy  and  reticent 
Frenchman.  Professor  Morse  was  also  one 
of  the  guests,  and  during  the  evening  he  drew 
the  attention  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  then  a promi- 
nent statesman,  to  the  stranger,  observing  that 
his  forehead  indicated  a great  intellect.  “ Yes,” 
replied  Mr.  Gallatin,  touching  his  own  fore- 
head with  his  finger,  “ there  is  a great  deal  in 
that  head  of  his : but  he  has  a strange  fancy. 
Can  you  believe  it?  He  has  the  idea  that  he 
will  one  day  be  the  Emperor  of  France.  Can 
you  conceive  anything  more  absurd  than 
that?” 

It  did  seem  absurd,  for  this  reserved 
Frenchman  was  then  a poor  adventurer,  an 
exile  from  his  country,  without  fortune  or 
powerful  connections,  and  yet,  fourteen  years 
later,  his  idea  became  a fact, — ^his  dream  of 
becoming  Napoleon  HI.  was  realized.  True, 
before  he  accomplished  his  purpose  there 
were  long,  dreary  years  of  imprisonment,  ex- 
ile, disaster,  and  patient  labor  and  hope,  but 
he  gained  his  ambition  at  last.  He  was  not 
scrupulous  as  to  the  means  employed  to 
accomplish  his  ends,  yet  he  is  a remark- 


44 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


able  example  of  what  pluck  and  energy 
can  do. 

When  Mr.  Ingram,  publisher  of  the  “ Illus- 
trated London  News,”  began  life  as  a news- 
dealer at  Nottingham,  England,  he  walked 
ten  miles  to  deliver  a single  paper  rather  than 
disappoint  a customer.  Does  any  one  wonder 
that  such  a youth  succeeded?  Once  he  rose 
at  two  o’clock  in  the  morning  and  walked  to 
London  to  get  some  papers  because  there  was 
no  post  to  bring  them.  He  determined  that 
his  customers  should  not  be  disappointed. 
This  is  the  kind  of  will  that  finds  a way. 

There  is  scarcely  anything  in  all  biography 
grander  than  the  saying  of  young  Henry 
Fawcett,  Gladstone’s  last  Postmaster-General, 
to  his  grief-stricken  father,  who  had  put 
out  both  his  eyes  by  birdshot  during  a game 
hunt:  “Never  mind,  father,  blindness  shall 
not  interfere  with  my  success  in  life.”  One 
of  the  most  pathetic  sights  in  London  streets, 
long  afterward,  was  Henry  Fawcett,  M.  P., 
led  everywhere  by  a faithful  daughter,  who 
acted  as  amanuensis  as  well  as  guide  to  her 
plucky  father.  Think  of  a young  man, 
scarcely  on  the  threshold  of  active  life,  sud- 
denly losing  the  sight  of  both  eyes  and  yet 
by  mere  pluck  and  almost  incomprehensible 


THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY  45 


tenacity  of  purpose,  lifting  himself  into  emi- 
nence in  any  direction,  to  say  nothing  of  be- 
coming one  of  the  foremost  men  in  a country 
noted  for  its  great  men ! 

The  courageous  daughter  who  was  eyes  to 
her  father  was  herself  a marvelous  example 
of  pluck  and  determination.  For  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  Oxford  College,  which 
reaches  back  centuries,  she  succeeded  in  win- 
ning the  post  which  had  only  been  gained 
before  by  great  men,  such  as  Gladstone, — 
the  post  of  senior  wrangler.  This  achievement 
had  had  no  parallel  in  history  vtp  to  that  date, 
and  attracted  the  attention  of  the  whole  civi- 
lized world.  Not  only  had  no  woman  ever 
held  this  position  before,  but  with  few  excep- 
tions it  had  only  been  held  by  men  who  in 
after  life  became  highly  distinguished. 

“ Circumstances,”  says  Milton,  “ have  rarely 
favored  famous  men.  They  have  fought  their 
way  to  triumph  through  all  sorts  of  opposing 
obstacles.” 

The  true  way  to  conquer  circumstances  is 
to  be  a greater  circumstance  yourself. 

Yet,  while  desiring  to  impress  in  the  most 
forcible  manner  possible  the  fact  that  will- 
power is  necessary  to  success,  and  that,  other 
things  being  equal,  the  greater  the  will-power. 


46  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


the  grander  and  more  complete  the  success, 
we  can  not  indorse  the  theory  that  there  is 
nothing  in  circumstances  or  environments,  or 
that  any  man,  simply  because  he  has  an  in- 
domitable will,  may  become  a Bonaparte,  a 
Pitt,  a Webster,  a Beecher,  a Lincoln.  We 
must  temper  determination  with  discretion, 
and  support  it  with  knowledge  and  common 
sense,  or  it  will  only  lead  us  to  run  our  heads 
against  posts.  We  must  not  expect  to  over- 
come a stubborn  fact  merely  by  a stubborn 
will.  We  only  have  the  right  to  assume  that 
we  can  do  anything  within  the  limit  of  our 
utmost  faculty,  strength,  and  endurance. 
Obstacles  permanently  insurmountable  bar  our 
progress  in  some  directions,  but  in  any  direc- 
tion we  ma)'’  reasonably  hope  and  attempt  to 
go  we  shall  find  that,  as  a rule,  they  are  either 
not  insurmountable  or  else  not  permanent. 
The  strong-willed,  intelligent,  persistent  man 
will  find  or  make  a way  where,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  a way  can  be  found  or  made. 

Every  schoolboy  knows  that  circumstances 
do  give  clients  to  lawyers  and  patients  to 
physicians ; place  ordinary  clergymen  in  ex- 
traordinary pulpits ; place  sons  of  the  rich  at 
the  head  of  immense  corporations  and  large 
houses,  when  they  have  very  ordinary  ability 


THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY  47 


and  scarcely  any  experience,  while  poor 
young  men  with  unusual  ability,  good  educa- 
tion, good  character,  and  large  experience, 
often  have  to  fight  their  way  for  years  to 
obtain  even  very  mediocre  situations ; that 
there  are  thousands  of  young  men  of  superior 
ability,  both  in  the  city  and  in  the  country, 
who  seem  to  be  compelled  by  circumstances 
to  remain  in  very  ordinary  positions  for  small 
pay,  when  others  about  them  are  raised  by 
money  or  family  influence  into  desirable 
places.  In  other  words,  we  all  know  that  the 
best  men  do  not  always  get  the  best  places ; 
circumstances  do  have  a great  deal  to  do  with 
our  position,  our  salaries,  our  station  in  life. 

Every  one  knows  that  there  is  not  always 
a way  where  there  is  a will ; that  labor  does 
not  always  conquer  all  things ; that  there  are 
things  impossible  even  to  him  that  wills,  how- 
ever strongly;  that  one  can  not  always  make 
anything  of  himself  he  chooses ; that  there 
are  limitations  in  our  very  natures  which  no 
amount  of  will-power  or  industry  can  over- 
come. 

But  while  it  is  true  that  the  will-power  can 
not  perform  miracles,  yet  that  it  is  almost 
omnipotent,  and  can  perform  wonders,  all 
history  goes  to  prove.  As  Shakespeare  says : — 


48  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Men  at  some  time  are  masters  of  their  fates ; 

The  fault,  dear  Brutus,  is  not  in  our  stars. 

But  in  ourselves,  that  we  are  underlings. 

Show  me  a man  who  according  to  popular 
prejudice  is  a victim  of  bad  luck,  and  I will 
show  you  one  who  has  some  unfortunate 
crooked  twist  of  temperament  that  invites  dis- 
aster. He  is  ill-tempered,  conceited,  or  tri- 
fling; lacks  character,  enthusiasm,  or  some 
other  requisite  for  success. 

Disraeli  said  that  man  is  not  the  creature  of 
circumstances,  but  that  jcircumstances  are  the 
creatures  of  men. 

Believe  in  the  power  of  will,  which  annihi- 
lates the  sickly,  sentimental  doctrine  of  fatal- 
ism,— you  must,  but  ean’t,  you  ought,  but  it 
is  impossible. 

Give  me  the  man  wEo  faces  what  he  must, 

“Who  breaks  his  birth’s  invidious  bar. 

And  grasps  the  skirts  of  happy  chance. 

And  breasts  the  blows  of  circumstance. 

And  grapples  with  his  evil  star.” 

^ The  indomitable  will,  the  inflexible  pur- 
pose, will  find  a way  or  make  one.  There  is 
always  room  for  a man  of  force. 

“ He  who  has  a firm  will,”  says  Goethe, 
“ molds  the  world  to  himself.”  “ People  do 


THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY  49 


not  lack  strength,”  says  Victor  Hugo,  “they 
lack  will.” 

“ He  who  resolves  upon  any  great  end,  by 
that  very  resolution  has  scaled  the  great  bar- 
riers to  it,  and  he  who  seizes  the  grand  idea 
of  self-cultivation,  and  solemnly  resolves  upon 
it,  will  find  that  idea,  that  resolution,  burn- 
ing like  fire  within  him,  and  ever  putting 
him  upon  his  own  improvement.  He  will  find 
it  removing  difficulties,  searching  out,  or 
making  means ; giving  courage  for  despon- 
dency, and  strength  for  weakness.” 

Nearly  all  great  men,  those  who  have  tow- 
ered high  above  their  fellows,  have  been  re- 
markable above  all  things  else  for  their  en- 
ergy of  will.  Of  Julius  Caesar  it  was  said  by 
a contemporary  that  it  was  his  activity  and^^ 
giant  determination,  rather  than  his  military 
skill,  that  won  his  victories.  The  youth  who 
starts  out  in  life  determined  to  make  the  most 
of  his  eyes  and  let  nothing  escape  him  which 
he  can  possibly  use  for  his  own  advancement ; 
who  keeps  his  ears  open  for  every  sound  that 
can  help  him  on  his  way,  who  keeps  his  hands 
open  that  he  may  clutch  every  opportunity, 
who  is  ever  on  the  alert  for  everything  which 
can  help  him  to  get  on  in  the  world,  who 
seizes  every  experience  in  life  and  grinds  it  up 


50 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


into  paint  for  his  great  life’s  picture,  who 
keeps  his  heart  open  that  he  may  catch  every 
noble  impulse,  and  everything  which  may  in- 
spire him, — that  youth  will  be  sure  to  make 
his  life  successful ; there  are  no  “ ifs  ” or 
“ ands  ” about  it.  If  he  has  his  health,  noth- 
ing can  keep  him  from  final  success. 

No  tyranny  of  circumstances  can  perma- 
nently imprison  a determined  will. 

The  world  always  stands  aside  for  the  de- 
termined man. 

“ The  general  of  a large  army  may  be  de- 
feated,” said  Confucius,  “ but  you  can  not  de- 
feat the  determined  mind  of  a peasant.” 

The  poor,  deaf  pauper,  Kitto,  who  made 
shoes  in  the  almshouse,  and  who  became  the 
greatest  of  Biblical  scholars,  wrote  in  his 
journal,  on  the  threshold  of  manhood : “ I am 
not  myself  a believer  in  impossibilities:  I 
think  that  all  the  fine  stories  about  natural 
ability,  etc.,  are  mere  rigmarole,  and  that 
every  man  may,  according  to  his  opportuni- 
ties and  industry,  render  himself  almost  any- 
thing he  wishes  to  become.” 

Lincoln  is  probably  the  most  remarkable 
example  on  the  pages  of  history,  showing  the 
possibilities  of  our  country.  From  the  pov- 
erty in  which  he  was  born,  through  the 


THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY  51 

rowdyism  of  a frontier  town,  the  discourage- 
ment of  early  bankruptcy,  and  the  fluctuations 
of  popular  politics,  he  rose  to  the  champion- 
ship of  union  and  freedom. 

Lincoln’s  will  made  his  way.  When  his 
friends  nominated  him  as  a candidate  for 
the  legislature,  his  enemies  made  fun  of  him. 
When  making  his  campaign  speeches  he  wore 
a mixed  jean  coat  so  short  that  he  could  not 
sit  down  on  it,  flax  and  tow-linen  trousers, 
straw  hat,  and  pot-metal  boots.  He  had 
nothing  in  the  world  but  character  and 
friends. 

When  his  friends  suggested  law  to  him, 
he  laughed  at  the  idea  of  his  being  a lawyer. 
He  said  he  had  not  brains  enough.  He  read 
law  barefoot  under  the  trees,  his  neighbors 
said,  and  he  sometimes  slept  on  the  counter 
in  the  store  where  he  worked.  He  had  to 
borrow  money  to  buy  a suit  of  clothes  to  make 
a respectable  appearance  in  the  legislature,  and 
walked  to  take  his  seat  at  Vandalia, — one 
hundred  miles. 

See  Thurlow  Weed,  defying  poverty  and 
wading  through  the  snow  two  miles,  with 
rags  for  shoes,  to  borrow  a book  to  read  be- 
fore the  sap-bush  fire.  See  Locke,  living  on 
bread  and  water  in  a Dutch  garret.  See 


52 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Heyne,  sleeping  many  a night  on  a barn  floor 
with  only  a book  for  his  pillow.  See  Samuel 
Drew,  tightening  his  apron  string  “ in  lieu  of 
a dinner.”  History  is  full  of  such  examples. 
He  who  will  pay  the  price  for  victory  need 
never  fear  final  defeat. 

Paris  was  in  the  hands  of  a mob,  the  au- 
thorities were  panic-stricken,  for  they  did  not 
dare  to  trust  their  underlings.  In  came  a man 
who  said,  “ I know  a young  officer  who  has 
the  courage  and  ability  to  quell  this  mob.” 
“ Send  for  him ; send  for  him ; send  for  him,” 
said  they.  Napoleon  was  sent  for,  came,  sub- 
jugated the  mob,  subjugated  the  authorities, 
ruled  France  and  then  conquered  Europe. 

Success  in  life  is  dependent  largely  upon 
the  will-power,  and  whatever  weakens  or  im- 
pairs it  diminishes  success.  The  will  can  be 
educated.  That  which  most  easily  becomes 
a habit  in  us  is  the  will.  Learn,  then,  to  will 
decisively  and  strongly;  thus  fix  your  floating 
life,  and  leave  it  no  longer  to  be  carried  hither 
and  thither,  like  a withered  leaf,  by  every 
wind  that  blows.  “ It  is  not  talent  that  men 
lack,  it  is  the  will  to  labor ; it  is  the  purpose.” 

It  was  the  insatiable  thirst  for  knowledge 
which  held  to  his  task,  through  poverty  and 
discouragement,  John  Leyden,  a Scotch  shep- 


THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY  53 


herd’s  son.  Barefoot  and  alone,  he  walked 
six  or  eight  miles  daily  to  learn  to  read,  which 
was  all  the  schooling  he  had.  His  desire 
for  an  education  defied  the  extremest  pov- 
erty, and  no  obstacle  could  turn  him  from  his 
purpose.  He  was  rich  when  he  discovered  a 
little  bookstore,  and  his  thirsty  soul  would 
drink  in  the  precious  treasures  from  its  price- 
less volumes  for  hours,  perfectly  oblivious  of 
the  scanty  meal  of  bread  and  water  which 
awaited  him  at  his  lowly  lodging.  Nothing 
could  discourage  him  from  trying  to  improve 
himself  by  study.  It  seemed  to  him  that  an 
opportunity  to  get  at  books  and  lectures  was 
all  that  any  man  could  need.  Before  he  was 
nineteeit,  this  poor  shepherd  boy  with  no 
chance  had  astonished  the  professors  of  Edin- 
burgh by  his  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Latin. 

Hearing  that  a surgeon’s  assistant  in  the 
Civil  Service  was  wanted,  although  he  knew! 
nothing  whatever  of  medicine,  he  determined 
to  apply  for  it.  There  were  only  six  months 
before  the  place  was  to  be  filled,  but  nothing 
would  daunt  him,  and  he  took  his  degree 
with  honor.  Walter  Scott,  who  thought  this 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  illustrations  of 
perseverance,  helped  to  fit  him  out,  and  he 
sailed  for  India. 


54 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Webster  was  very  poor  even  after  he  en- 
tered Dartmouth  College.  A friend  sent  him 
a recipe  for  greasing  his  boots.  Webster 
wrote  and  thanked  him,  and  added : “ But  my 
boots  need  other  doctoring,  for  they  not  only 
admit  water,  but  even  peas  and  gravel-stones.” 
Yet  he  became  one  of  the  greatest  men  in  the 
world.  Sydney  Smith  said : “ Webster  was  a 
living  lie,  because  no  man  on  earth  could  be 
as  great  as  he  looked.”  Carlyle  said  of  him: 
“ One  would  incline  at  sight  to  back  him 
against  the  world.” 

What  seemed  to  be  luck  followed  Stephen 
Girard  all  his  life.  No  matter  what  he  did, 
it  always  seemed  to  others  to  turn  to  his  ac- 
count. 

Being  a foreigner,  unable  to  speak  English, 
short,  stout,  and  with  a repulsive  face,  blind 
in  one  eye,  it  was  hard  for  him  to  get  a start. 
But  he  was  not  the  man  to  give  up.  He  had 
begun  as  a cabin  boy  at  thirteen,  and  for  nine 
years  sailed  between  Bordeaux  and  the  French 
West  Indies.  He  improved  everj^  leisure 
minute  at  sea,  mastering  the  art  of  naviga- 
tion. 

At  the  age  of  eight  he  had  first  discov- 
ered that  he  was  blind  in  one  eye.  His  father, 
evidently  thinking  that  he  would  never 


THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY  55 


amount  to  anything,  would  not  help  him  to 
an  education  beyond  that  of  mere  reading 
and  writing,  but  sent  his  younger  brothers  to 
college.  The  discovery  of  his  blindness,  the 
neglect  of  his  father,  and  the  chagrin  of  his 
brothers’  advancement  soured  his  whole  life. 

When  he  began  business  for  himself  in 
Philadelphia,  there  seemed  to  be  nothing  he 
would  not  do  for  money.  He  bought  and 
sold  anything,  from  groceries  to  old  junk; 
he  bottled  wine  and  cider,  from  which  he 
made  a good  profit.  Everything  he  touched 
prospered. 

He  left  nothing  to  chance.  His  plans  and 
schemes  were  worked  out  with  mathematical 
care.  His  letters  written  to  his  captains  in 
foreign  ports,  laying  out  their  routes  and  giv- 
ing detailed  instruction,  are  models  of  fore- 
sight and  systematic  planning.  He  never  left 
anything  of  importance  to  others.  He  was 
rigidly  accurate  in  his  instructions,  and  would 
not  allow  the  slightest  departure  from  them. 
He  used  to  say  that  while  his  captains  might 
save  him  money  by  deviating  from  instruc- 
tions once,  yet  they  would  cause  loss  in  nine- 
ty-nine other  cases. 

He  never  lost  a ship,  and  many  times 
that  which  brought  financial  ruin  to  many 


56  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


others,  as  the  War  of  1812,  only  increased  his 
wealth.  Everybody,  especially  his  jealous 
brother  merchants,  attributed  his  great  suc- 
cess to  his  luck.  While  undoubtedly  he  was 
fortunate  in  happening  to  be  at  the  right  place 
at  the  right  time,  yet  he  was  precision,  method, 
accuracy,  energy  itself.  What  seemed  luck 
with  him  was  only  good  judgment  and  prompt- 
ness in  seizing  opportunities,  and  the  greatest 
care  and  zeal  in  improving  them  to  their  ut- 
most possibilities. 

The  mathematician  tells  you  that  if  you 
throw  the  dice,  there  are  thirty  chances  to 
one  against  your  turning  up  a particular  num- 
ber, and  a hundred  to  one  against  your  re- 
peating the  same  throw  three  times  in  suc- 
cession : and  so  on  in  an  augmenting  ratio. 

Many  a young  man  who  has  read  the  story 
of  John  Wanamaker’s  romantic  career  has 
gained  very  little  inspiration  or  help  from  it 
toward  his  own  elevation  and  advancement, 
for  he  looks  upon  it  as  the  result  of  good 
luck,  chance,  or  fate.  “ What  a lucky  fel- 
low,” he  says  to  himself  as  he  reads;  “what 
a bonanza  he  fell  into  ! ” But  a careful  analy- 
sis of  Wanamaker’s  life  only  enforces  the 
same  lesson  taught  by  the  analysis  of  most 
great  lives,  namely,  that  a good  mother,  a 


THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY  57 


good  constitution,  the  habit  of  hard  work, 
indomitable  energy,  determination  which 
knows  no  defeat,  decision  which  never  wav- 
ers, a concentration  which  never  scatters  its 
forces,  courage  which  never  falters,  self- 
mastery  which  can  say  No,  and  stick  to  it, 
strict  integrity  and  downright  honesty,  a 
cheerful  disposition,  unbounded  enthusiasm  in 
one’s  calling,  and  a high  aim  and  noble  pur- 
pose insure  a very  large  measure  of  success. 

Youth  should  be  taught  that  there  is  some- 
thing in  circumstances ; that  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  a poor  pedestrian  happening  to  find 
no  obstruction  in  his  way,  and  reaching  the 
goal  when  a better  walker  finds  the  draw- 
bridge up,  the  street  blockaded,  and  so  fails 
to  win  the  race ; that  wealth  often  does  place 
unworthy  sons  in  high  positions ; that  fam- 
ily influence  does  gain  a lawyer  clients,  a 
physician  patients,  an  ordinary  scholar  a good 
professorship;  but  that,  on  the  other  hand, 
position,  clients,  patients,  professorships, 
managers’  and  superintendents’  positions  do 
not  necessarily  constitute  success.  He  should 
be  taught  that  in  the  long  run,  as  a rule,  the 
best  man  does  win  the  best  place,  and  that 
persistent  merit  does  succeed. 

There  is  about  as  much  jchance  of  idleness 


58  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


and  incapacity  winning  real  success  or  a high 
position  in  life,  as  there  would  be  in  produc- 
ing a “ Paradise  Lost  ” by  shaking  up  promis- 
cuously the  separate  words  of  Webster’s  Dic- 
tionary, and  letting  them  fall  at  random  on 
the  floor.  Fortune  smiles  upon  those  who 
roll  up  their  sleeves  and  put  their  shoulders 
to  the  wheel ; upon  men  who  are  not  afraid 
of  dreary,  dry,  irksome  drudgery,  men  of 
nerve  and  grit  who  do  not  turn  aside  for  dirt 
and  detail. 

The  youth  should  be  taught  that  “ he  alone 
is  great,  who,  by  a life  heroic,  conquers 
fate  ” ; that  “ diligence  is  the  mother  of  good 
luck  ” ; that  nine  times  out  of  ten  what  we  call 
luck  or  fate  is  but  a mere  bugbear  of  the  in- 
dolent, the  languid,  the  purposeless,  the  care- 
less, the  indifferent ; that,  as  a rule,  the  man 
who  fails  does  not  see  or  seize  his  oppor- 
tunity. Opportunity  is  coy,  is  swift,  is  gone, 
before  the  slow,  the  unobservant,  the  indo- 
lent, or  the  careless  can  seize  her: — 

" In  idle  wishes  fools  supinely  stay : 

Be  there  a will  and  wisdom  finds  a way.” 

It  has  been  well  said  that  the  very  reputa- 
tion of  being  strong-willed,  plucky,  and  in- 
defatigable is  of  priceless  value.  It  often 


THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY  59 


cows  enemies  and  dispels  at  the  start  opposi- 
tion to  one’s  undertakings  which  would  oth- 
erwise be  formidable. 

It  is  astonishing  what  men  who  have  come 
to  their  senses  late  in  life  have  accomplished 
by  a sudden  resolution. 

Arkwright  was  fifty  years  of  age  when  he 
began  to  learn  English  grammar  and  improve 
his  writing  and  spelling.  Benjamin  Franklin 
was  past  fifty  before  he  began  the  study  of 
science  and  philosophy.  Milton,  in  his  blind- 
ness, was  past  the  age.  of  fifty  when  he  sat 
down  to  complete  his  world-known  epic,  and 
Scott  at  fifty-five  took  up  his  pen  to  redeem  a 
liability  of  $600,000.  “Yet  I am  learning,” 
said  Michael  Angelo,  when  threescore  years 
and  ten  were  past,  and  he  had  long  attained 
the  highest  triumphs  of  his  art. 

Even  brains  are  second  in  importance  to 
will.  The  vacillating  man  is  always  pushed 
aside  in  the  race  of  life.  It  is  only  the  weak 
and  vacillating  who  halt  before  adverse  cir- 
cumstances and  obstacles.  A man  with  an 
iron  will,  with  a determination  that  nothing 
shall  check  his  career,  is  sure,  if  he  has  perse- 
verance and  grit,  to  succeed.  We  may 
not  find  time  for  what  we  would  like,  but 
what  we  long  for  and  strive  for  with  all  our 


6o  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


strength,  we  usually  approximate,  if  we  do 
not  fully  reach. 

I wish  it  were  possible  to  show  the  youth 
of  America  the  great  part  that  the  will  might 
play  in  their  success  in  life  and  in  their 
happiness  as  well.  The  achievements  of 
will-power  are  simply  beyond  computation. 
Scarcely  anything  in  reason  seems  impossible 
to  the  man  who  can  will  strong  enough  and 
long  enough. 

How  often  we  see  this  illustrated  in  the 
case  of  a young  woman  who  suddenly  be- 
comes conscious  that  she  is  plain  and  unat- 
tractive ; who,  by  prodigious  exercise  of  her 
will  and  untiring  industry,  resolves  to  redeem 
herself  from  obscurity  and  commonness;  and 
who  not  only  makes  up  for  her  deficiencies, 
but  elevates  herself  into  a prominence  and 
importance  which  mere  personal  attractions 
could  never  have  given  her ! Charlotte  Cush- 
man, without  a charm  of  form  or  face, 
climbed  to  the  very  top  of  her  profession. 
How  many  young  men,  stung  by  conscious- 
ness of  physical  deformity  or  mental  defi- 
ciencies, have,  by  a strong,  persistent  exercise 
of  will-power,  raised  themselves  from  medioc- 
rity and  placed  themselves  high  above  those 
who  scorned  them ! 


THE  WILL  AND  THE  WAY  6i 


History  is  full  of  examples  of  men  and 
women  who  have  redeemed  themselves  from 
disgrace,  poverty,  and  misfortune  by  the 
firm  resolution  of  an  iron  will.  The  con- 
sciousness of  being  looked  upon  as  inferior,  as 
incapable  of  accomplishing  what  others  ac- 
complish ; the  sensitiveness  at  being  Consid- 
ered a dunce  in  school,  has  stung  many  a 
youth  into  a determination  which  has  elevated 
him  far  above  those  who  laughed  at  him,  as 
in  the  case  of  Newton,  of  Adam  Clark,  of 
Sheridan,  Wellington,  Goldsmith,  Dr.  Chal- 
mers, Curran,  Disraeli,  and  hundreds  of 
others. 

It  is  men  like  Mirabeau,  who  “trample 
upon  impossibilities  ” ; like  Napoleon,  who  do 
not  wait  for  opportunities,  but  make  them ; 
like  Grant,  who  has  only  “ unconditional  sur- 
render ” for  the  enemy,  who  change  the  very 
front  of  the  world. 

“ I can’t,  it  is  impossible,”  said  a foiled 
lieutenant  to  Alexander.  “ Be  gone,”  shouted 
the  conquering  Macedonian,  “ there  is  nothing 
impossible  to  him  who  will  try.” 

Were  I called  upon  to  express  in  a word  the 
secret  of  so  many  failures  among  those  who 
started  out  in  life  with  high  hopes,  I should 
say  unhesitatingly,  they  lacked  will-power. 


62  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


They  could  not  half  will.  What  is  a man 
without  a will?  He  is  like  an  engine  without 
steam,  a mere  sport  of  chance,  to  be  tossed 
about  hither  and  thither,  always  at  the  mercy 
of  those  who  have  wills.  I should  call  the 
strength  of  will  the  test  of  a young  man’s 
possibilities.  Can  he  will  strong  enough,  and 
hold  whatever  he  undertakes  with  an  iron 
grip?  It  is  the  iron  grip  that  takes  the 
strong  hold  on  life.  “ The  truest  wisdom,” 
said  Napoleon,  “ is  a resolute  determination.” 
An  iron  will  without  principle  might  pro- 
duce a Napoleon ; but  with  character  it  would 
make  a Wellington  or  a Grant,  untarnished 
by  ambition  or  avarice. 

“ The  undivided  will 

’Tis  that  compels  the  elements  and  wrings 

A human  music  from  the  indifferent  air.” 


IV.  USES  OF  OBSTACLES 


Nature,  when  she  adds  difficulties,  adds  brains. — 
Emerson. 

Many  men  owe  the  grandeur  of  their  lives  to 
their  tremendous  difficulties. — Spurgeon. 

The  good  are  better  made  by  ill. 

As  odors  crushed  are  sweeter  still. 

Rogers. 

Though  losses  and  crosses  be  lessons  right  severe. 
There’s  wit  there  ye’ll  get  there,  ye’ll  find  no  other 
where.  Burns, 

“ Adversity  is  the  prosperity  of  the  great.” 

“ Kites  rise  against,  not  with,  the  wind.” 

ANY  and  many  a time  since,” 
said  Harriet  Martineau,  re- 
ferring to  her  father’s  failure 
in  business,  “ have  we  said 
that,  but  for  that  loss  of 
money,  we  might  have  lived 
on  in  the  ordinary  provincial  method  of 
ladies  with  small  means,  sewing  and  econo- 
mizing and  growing  narrower  every  year; 
whereas,  by  being  thrown,  while  it  was  yet 
time,  on  our  own  resources,  we  have  worked 
hard  and  usefully,  won  friends,  reputation,  and 
independence,  seen  the  world  abundantly, 
63 


64  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


abroad  and  at  home  ; in  short,  have  truly  lived 
instead  of  vegetating.” 

Tvi^o  of  the  three  greatest  epic  poets  of  the 
world  were  blind, — Homer  and  Milton ; while 
the  third,  Dante,  was  in  his  later  years  nearly, 
if  not  altogether,  blind.  It  almost  seems  as 
though  some  great  characters  had  been  phys- 
ically crippled  in  certain  respects  so  that  they 
would  not  dissipate  their  energy,  but  concen- 
trate it  all  in  one  direction. 

A distinguished  investigator  in  science 
said  that  when  he  encountered  an  apparently 
insuperable  obstacle,  he  usually  found  himself 
upon  the  brink  of  some  discovery. 

“ Returned  with  thanks  ” has  made  many 
an  author.  Failure  often  leads  a man  to  suc- 
cess by  arousing  his  latent  energy,  by  firing 
a dormant  purpose,  by  awakening  powers 
which  were  sleeping.  Men  of  mettle  turn 
disappointments  into  helps  as  the  oyster  turns 
into  pearl  the  sand  which  annoys  it. 

“ Let  the  adverse  breath  of  criticism  be  to 
you  only  what  the  blast  of  the  storm  wind 
is  to  the  eagle, — a force  against  him  that  lifts 
him  higher,” 

A kite  would  not  fly  unless  it  had  a string 
tying  it  down.  It  is  just  so  in  life.  The 
man  who  is  tied  down  by  half  a dozen  bloom- 


USES  OF  OBSTACLES 


65 


ing  responsibilities  and  their  mother  will  make 
a higher  and  stronger  flight  than  the  bachelor 
who,  having  nothing  to  keep  him  steady,  is 
always  floundering  in  the  mud. 

When  Napoleon’s  school  companions  made 
sport  of  him  on  account  of  his  humble  origin 
and  poverty  he  devoted  himself  entirely  to 
books,  and,  quickly  rising  above  them  in  schol- 
arship, commanded  their  respect.  Soon  he 
was  regarded  as  the  brightest  ornament  of  the 
class. 

“To  make  his  way  at  the  bar,”  said  an  em- 
inent jurist,  “a  young  man  must  live  like  a 
hermit  and  work  like  a horse.  There  is  noth- 
ing that  does  a young  lawyer  so  much  good 
as  to  be  half  starved.” 

Thousands  of  men  of  great  native  ability 
have  been  lost  to  the  world  because  they  have 
not  had  to  wrestle  with  obstacles,  and  to 
struggle  under  difficulties  sufficient  to  stimu- 
late into  activity  their  dormant  powers.  No 
effort  is  too  dear  which  helps  us  along  the 
line  of  our  proper  career. 

Poverty  and  obscurity  of  origin  may  im- 
pede our  progress,  but  it  is  only  like  the  ob- 
struction of  ice  or  debris  in  the  river  tempo- 
rarily forcing  the  water  into  eddies,  where  it 
accumulates  strength  and  a mighty  reserve 


66 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


which  ultimately  sweeps  the  obstruction  im- 
petuously to  the  sea.  Poverty  and  obscurity 
are  not  insurmountable  obstacles,  but  they 
often  act  as  a stimulus  to  the  naturally  in- 
dolent, and  develop  a firmer  fiber  of  mind,  a 
stronger  muscle  and  stamina  of  body. 

If  the  germ  of  the  seed  has  to  struggle  to 
push  its  way  up  through  the  stones  and  hard 
sod,  to  fight  its  way  up  to  sunlight  and  air, 
and  then  to  wrestle  with  storm  and  tempest, 
with  snow  and  frost,  the  fiber  of  its  timber 
will  be  all  the  tougher  and  stronger. 

There  is  good  philosophy  in  the  injunction 
to  love  our  enemies,  for  they  are  often  our 
best  friends  in  disguise.  They  tell  us  the 
truth  when  friends  flatter.  Their  biting  sar- 
casm and  scathing  rebuke  are  mirrors  which 
reveal  us  to  ourselves.  These  unkind  stings 
and  thrusts  are  often  spurs  which  urge  us  on 
to  grander  success  and  nobler  endeavor. 
Friends  cover  our  faults  and  rarely  rebuke; 
enemies  drag  out  to  the  light  all  our  weak- 
nesses without  mercy.  We  dread  these 
thrusts  and  exposures  as  we  do  the  surgeon’s 
knife,  but  are  the  better  for  them.  They  reach 
depths  before  untouched,  and  we  are  led  to 
resolve  to  redeem  ourselves  from  scorn  and 
inferiority. 


USES  OF  OBSTACLES 


67 


We  are  the  victors  of  our  opponents.  They 
have  developed  in  us  the  very  power  by  which 
we  overcome  them.  Without  their  opposition 
we  could  never  have  braced  and  anchored  and 
fortified  ourselves,  as  the  oak  is  braced  and 
anchored  for  its  thousand  battles  with  the 
tempests.  Our  trials,  our  sorrows,  and  our 
griefs  develop  us  in  a similar  way. 

The  man  who  has  triumphed  over  difficul- 
ties bears  the  signs  of  victory  in  his  face.  An 
air  of  triumph  is  seen  in  every  movement. 

John  Calvin,  who  made  a theology  for  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  was  tor- 
tured with  disease  for  many  years,  and  so 
was  Robert  Hall.  The  great  men  who  have 
lifted  the  world  to  a higher  level  were  not 
developed  in  easy  circumstances,  but  were 
rocked  in  the  cradle  of  difficulties  and  pil- 
lowed on  hardships. 

“ The  gods  look  on  no  grander  sight  than 
an  honest  man  struggling  with  adversity.” 

“ Then  I must  learn  to  sing  better,”  said 
Anaximander,  when  told  that  the  very  boys 
laughed  at  his  singing. 

Strong  characters,  like  the  palm-tree,  seem 
to  thrive  best  when  most  abused.  Men  who 
have  stood  up  bravely  under  great  misfortune 
for  years  are  often  unable  to  bear  prosperity. 


68  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Their  good  fortune  takes  the  spring  out  of 
their  energy,  as  the  torrid  zone  enervates 
races  accustomed  to  a vigorous  climate. 
Some  people  never  come  to  themselves  until 
baffled,  rebuffed,  thwarted,  defeated,  crushed, 
in  the  opinion  of  those  around  them.  Trials 
unlock  their  virtues ; defeat  is  the  threshold 
of  their  victory. 

It  is  defeat  that  turns  bone  to  flint;  it  is 
defeat  that  turns  gristle  to  muscle;  it  is  de- 
feat that  makes  men  invincible ; it  is  defeat 
that  has  made  those  heroic  natures  that  are 
now  in  the  ascendency,  and  that  has  given 
the  sweet  law  of  liberty  instead  of  the  bitter 
law  of  oppression. 

Difficulties  call  out  great  qualities,  and 
make  greatness  possible.  How  many  cen- 
turies of  peace  would  have  developed  a 
Grant?  Few  knew  Lincoln  until  the  great 
weight  of  the  war  showed  his  character.  A 
century  of  peace  would  never  have  produced 
a Bismarck.  Perhaps  Phillips  and  Garrison 
would  never  have  been  known  to  history  had 
it  not  been  for  slavery. 

“ Will  he  not  make  a great  painter  ? ” was 
asked  in  regard  to  an  artist  fresh  from  his 
Italian  tour.  “ No,  never,”  replied  North- 
cote.  “Why  not?”  “Because  he  has  an 


USES  OF  OBSTACLES 


69 


income  of  six  thousand  pounds  a year.”  In 
the  sunshine  of  wealth  a man  is,  as  a rule, 
warped  too  much  to  become  an  artist  of  high 
merit.  He  should  have  some  great  thwarting 
difficulty  to  struggle  against.  A drenching 
shower  of  adversity  would  straighten  his 
fibers  out  again. 

The  best  tools  receive  their  temper  from 
fire,  their  edge  from  grinding;  the  noblest 
characters  are  developed  in  a similar  way. 
The  harder  the  diamond,  the  more  brilliant  the 
luster,  and  the  greater  the  friction  necessary 
to  bring  it  out.  Only  its  own  dust  is  hard 
enough  to  make  this  most  precious  stone  re- 
veal its  full  beauty. 

The  spark  in  the  flint  would  sleep  forever 
but  for  friction ; the  fire  in  man  would  never 
blaze  but  for  antagonism. 

Suddenly,  with  much  jarring  and  jolting, 
an  electric  car  came  to  a standstill  just  in 
front  of  a heavy  truck  that  was  headed  in 
an  opposite  direction.  The  huge  truck  wheels 
were  sliding  uselessly  round  on  the  car  tracks 
that  were  wet  and  slippery  from  rain.  All  the 
urging  of  the  teamster  and  the  straining  of 
the  horses  were  in  vain, — until  the  motorman 
quietly  tossed  a shovelful  of  sand  on  the  track 
under  the  heavy  wheels,  and  then  the  truck 


70 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


lumbered  on  its  way.  “ Friction  is  a very 
good  thing,”  remarked  a passenger. 

The  philosopher  Kant  observed  that  a dove, 
inasmuch  as  the  only  obstacle  it  has  to  over- 
come is  the  resistance  of  the  air,  might  sup- 
pose that  if  only  the  air  were  out  of  the  way 
it  could  fly  with  greater  rapidity  and  ease. 
Yet  if  the  air  were  withdrawn,  and  the  bird 
should  try  to  fly  in  a vacuum,  it  would  fall 
instantly  to  the  ground,  unable  to  fly  at  all. 
The  very  element  that  offers  the  opposition 
to  flying  is  at  the  same  time  the  condition 
of  any  flight  whatever. 

Emergencies  make  giant  men.  But  for  our 
Civil  War  the  names  of  its  grand  heroes 
would  not  be  written  among  the  greatest  of 
our  time. 

The  effort  or  struggle  to  climb  to  a higher 
place  in  life  has  strength  and  dignity  in  it, 
and  can  not  fail  to  leave  us  stronger,  even 
though  we  may  never  reach  the  position  we 
desire,  or  secure  the  prize  we  seek. 

From  an  aimless,  idle,  and  useless  brain, 
emergencies  often  call  out  powers  and  virtues 
before  unknown  and  unsuspected.  How  often 
we  see  a young  man  develop  astounding  abil- 
ity and  energy  after  the  death  of  a parent,  or 
the  loss  of  a fortune,  or  after  some  other 


USES  OF  OBSTACLES 


71 


calamity  has  knocked  the  props  and  crutches 
from  under  him.  The  prison  has  roused  the 
slumbering  fire  in  many  a noble  mind.  “ Rob- 
inson Crusoe  ” was  written  in  prison.  The 
“ Pilgrim’s  Progress  ” appeared  in  Bedford 
Jail.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  wrote  “ The  History 
of  the  World”  during  his  imprisonment  of 
thirteen  years.  Luther  translated  the  Bible 
while  confined  in  the  Castle  of  Wartburg. 
For  twenty  years  Dante  worked  in  exile,  and 
even  under  sentence  of  death. 

Take  two  acorns  from  the  same  tree,  as 
nearly  alike  as  possible ; plant  one  on  a hill  by 
itself,  and  the  other  in  the  dense  forest,  and 
watch  them  grow.  The  oak  standing  alone  is 
exposed  to  every  storm.  Its  roots  reach  out 
in  every  direction,  clutching  the  rocks  and 
piercing  deep  into  the  earth.  Every  rootlet 
lends  itself  to  steady  the  growing  giant,  as  if 
in  anticipation  of  fierce  conflict  with  the  ele- 
ments. Sometimes  its  upward  growth  seems 
checked  for  years,  but  all  the  while  it  has 
been  expending  its  energy  in  pushing  a root 
across  a large  rock  to  gain  a firmer  anchor- 
age. Then  it  shoots  proudly  aloft  again,  pre- 
pared to  defy  the  hurricane.  The  gales  which 
sport  so  rudely  with  its  wide  branches  find 
more  than  their  match,  and  only  serve  still 


72 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


further  to  toughen  every  minutest  fiber  from 
pith  to  bark. 

The  acorn  planted  in  the  deep  forest,  on  the 
other  hand,  shoots  up  a weak,  slender  sapling. 
Shielded  by  its  neighbors,  it  feels  no  need  of 
spreading  its  roots  far  and  wide  for  support. 

Take  two  boys,  as  nearly  alike  as  possible. 
Place  one  in  the  country  away  from  the  hot- 
house culture  and  refinements  of  the  city,  with 
only  the  district  school,  the  Sunday-school, 
and  a few  books.  Remove  wealth  and  props 
of  every  kind ; and,  if  he  has  the  right  sort 
of  material  in  him,  he  will  thrive.  Every  ob- 
stacle overcome  lends  him  strength  for  the 
next  conflict.  If  he  falls,  he  rises  with  more 
determination  than  before.  Like  a rubber 
ball,  the  harder  the  obstacle  he  meets  the 
higher  he  rebounds.  Obstacles  and  opposition 
are  but  apparatus  of  the  gymnasium  in  which 
the  fibers  of  his  manhood  are  developed.  He 
compels  respect  and  recognition  from  those 
who  have  ridiculed  his  poverty.  Put  the  other 
boy  in  a Vanderbilt  family.  Give  him  French 
and  German  nurses ; gratify  his  every  wish. 
Place  him  under  the  tutelage  of  great  masters 
and  send  him  to  Harvard.  Give  him  thou- 
sands a year  for  spending  money,  and  let  him 
travel  extensively. 


USES  OF  OBSTACLES 


73 


The  two  meet.  The  city  lad  is  ashamed  of 
his  country  brother.  The  plain,  threadbare 
clothes,  hard  hands,  tawny  face,  and  awkward 
manner  of  the  country  boy  make  sorry  com 
trast  with  the  genteel  appearance  of  the  other. 
The  poor  boy  bemoans  his  hard  lot,  regrets 
that  he  has  “no  chance  in  life,”  and  envies 
the  city  youth.  He  thinks  that  it  is  a cruel 
Providence  that  places  such  a wide  gulf  be- 
tween them. 

They  meet  again  as  men,  but  how  changed ! 
It  is  as  easy  to  distinguish  the  sturdy,  self- 
made  man  from  the  one  who  has  been  propped 
up  all  his  life  by  wealth,  position,  and  family 
influence,  as  it  is  for  the  ship-builder  to  tell 
the  difference  between  the  plank  from  the 
rugged  mountain  oak  and  one  from  the  sap- 
ling of  the  forest. 

When  God  wants  to  educate  a man,  he  does 
not  send  him  to  school  to  the  Graces,  but  to 
the  Necessities.  Through  the  pit  and  the  dun- 
geon Joseph  came  to  a throne.  We  are  not 
conscious  of  the  mighty  cravings  of  our  half 
divine  humanity ; we  are  not  aware  of  the 
God  within  us  until  some  chasm  yawns  which 
must  be  filled,  or  till  the  rending  asunder  of 
our  affections  forces  us  to  become  conscious 
of  a need.  St.  Paul  in  his  Roman  cell ; John 


74 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Huss  led  to  the  stake  at  Constance;  Tyndale 
dying  in  his  prison  at  Amsterdam ; Milton, 
amid  the  incipient  earthquake  throes  of  revo- 
lution, teaching  two  little  boys  in  Aldgate 
Street ; David  Livingstone,  worn  to  a shadow, 
dying  in  a negro  hut  in  Central  Africa,  alone 
— what  failures  they  might  all  have  seemed  to 
themselves  to  be,  yet  what  mighty  purposes 
was  God  working  out  by  their  apparent  hu- 
miliations ! 

Two  highwaymen  chancing  once  to  pass  a 
gibbet,  one  of  them  exclaimed : “ What  a 

fine  profession  ours  would  be  if  there  were 
no  gibbets!”  “Tut,  you  blockhead,”  replied 
the  other,  “ gibbets  are  the  making  of  us ; for, 
if  there  were  no  gibbets,  every  one  would  be 
a highwayman.”  Just  so  with  every  art,  trade, 
or  pursuit ; it  is  the  difficulties  that  scare  and 
keep  out  unworthy  competitors. 

“ Success  grows  out  of  struggles  to  over- 
come difficulties,”  says  Smiles.  “ If  there 
were  no  difficulties  there  would  be  no  success. 
In  this  necessity  for  exertion  we  find  the 
chief  source  of  human  advancement, — the 
advancement  of  individuals  as  of  nations.  It 
has  led  to  most  of  the  mechanical  inventions 
and  improvements  of  the  age.” 

“ Stick  your  claws  into  me,”  said  Mendels-^ 


USES  OF  OBSTACLES 


75 


sohn  to  his  critics  when  entering  the  Birming- 
ham orchestra.  “ Don’t  tell  me  what  you 
like,  but  what  you  don’t  like.” 

John  Hunter  said  that  the  art  of  surgery 
would  never  advance  until  professional  men 
had  the  courage  to  publish  their  failures  as 
well  as  their  successes. 

“Young  men  need  to  be  taught  not  to  ex- 
pect a perfectly  smooth  and  easy  way  to  the 
objects  of  their  endeavor  or  ambition,”  says 
Dr.  Peabody.  “ Seldom  does  one  reach  a 
position  with  which  he  has  reason  to  be  sat- 
isfied without  encountering  difficulties  and 
what  might  seem  discouragements.  But  if 
they  are  properly  met,  they  are  not  what  they 
seem,  and  may  prove  to  be  helps,  not  hin- 
drances. There  is  no  more  helpful  and  prof- 
iting exercise  than  surmounting  obstacles.” 

It  was  in  the  Madrid  jail  that  Cervantes 
wrote  “ Don  Quixote.”  He  was  so  poor  that 
he  could  not  even  get  paper  during  the  last 
of  his  writing,  and  had  to  write  on  scraps  of 
leather.  A rich  Spaniard  was  asked  to  help 
him,  but  replied:  “ Heaven  forbid  that  his 
necessities  should  be  relieved ; it  is  his  pov- 
erty that  makes  the  world  rich.” 

“ He  has  the  stuff  in  him  to  make  a good 
musician,”  said  Beethoven  of  Rossini,  “ if  he 


76  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


had  only  been  well  flogged  when  a boy ; but 
be  is  spoiled  by  the  ease  with  which  he  com- 
poses.” 

We  do  our  best  while  fighting  desperately 
to  attain  what  the  heart  covets. 

Waters  says  that  the  struggle  to  obtain 
knowledge  and  to  advance  one’s  self  in  the 
world  strengthens  the  mind,  disciplines  the 
faculties,  matures  the  judgment,  promotes 
self-reliance,  and  gives  one  independence  of 
thought  and  force  of  character. 

Kossuth  called  himself  “ a tempest-tossed 
soul,  whose  eyes  have  been  sharpened  by 
affliction.” 

As  soon  as  young  eagles  can  fly  the  old 
birds  tumble  them  out  and  tear  the  down  and 
feathers  from  their  nest.  The  rude  and 
rough  experience  of  the  eaglet  fits  him  to  be- 
come the  bold  king  of  birds,  fierce  and  expert 
in  pursuing  his  prey. 

Boys  who  are  bound  out,  crowded  out, 
kicked  out,  usually  “ turn  out,”  while  those 
who  do  not  have  these  disadvantages  fre- 
quently fail  to  “ come  out.” 

“ It  was  not  the  victories  but  the  defeats  of 
my  life  which  have  strengthened  me,”  said 
the  aged  Sidenham  Poyntz. 

Almost  from  the  dawn  of  history,  oppres- 


USES  OF  OBSTACLES 


77 


sion  has  been  the  lot  of  the  Hebrews,  yet 
they  have  given  the  world  its  noblest  songs, 
its  wisest  proverbs,  its  sweetest  music.  With 
them  persecution  seems  to  bring  prosperity. 
They  thrive  where  others  would  starve.  They 
hold  the  purse-strings  of  many  nations.  To 
them  hardship  has  been  “ like  spring  morn- 
ings, frosty  but  kindly,  the  cold  of  which  will 
kill  the  vermin,  but  will  let  the  plant  live.” 

In  one  of  the  battles  of  the  Crimea  a 
jCannon-ball  struck  inside  the  fort,  crashing 
through  a beautiful  garden.  But  from  the 
ugly  chasm  there  burst  forth  a spring  of 
water  which  ever  afterward  flowed  a living 
fountain.  From  the  ugly  gashes  which  mis- 
fortunes and  sorrows  make  in  our  hearts,  per- 
ennial fountains  of  rich  experience  and  new 
joys  often  spring. 

Don’t  lament  and  grieve  over  lost  wealth. 
The  Creator  may  see  something  grand  and 
mighty  which  even  He  can  not  bring  out  as 
long  as  your  wealth  stands  in  the  way.  You 
must  throw  away  the  crutches  of  riches  and 
stand  upon  your  own  feet,  and  develop  the 
long  unused  muscles  of  manhood.  God  may 
see  a rough  diamond  in  you  which  only  the 
hard  hits  of  poverty  can  polish. 

God  knows  where  the  richest  melodies  of 


78  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 

our  lives  are,  and  what  drill  and  what  disci- 
pline are  necessary  to  bring  them  out.  The 
frost,  the  snows,  the  tempests,  the  light- 
nings are  the  rough  teachers  that  bring  the 
tiny  acorn  to  the  sturdy  oak.  Fierce  winters 
are  as  necessary  to  it  as  long  summers.  It 
is  its  half-century’s  struggle  with  the.elements 
for  existence,  wrestling  with  the  storm,  fight- 
ing for  its  life  from  the  moment  that  it  leaves 
the  acorn  until  it  goes  into  the  ship,  that  gives 
it  value.  Without  this  struggle  it  would  have 
been  characterless,  staminaless,  nerveless,  and 
its  grain  would  have  never  been  suscepti- 
ble of  high  polish.  The  most  beautiful  as 
well  as  the  strongest  woods  are  found  not  in 
tropical  climates,  but  in  severe  climates,  where 
they  have  to  fight  the  frosts  and  the  winter’s 
cold. 

Many  a man  has  never  found  himself  un- 
til he  has  lost  his  all.  Adversity  stripped 
him  only  to  discover  him.  Obstacles,  hard- 
ships, are  the  chisel  and  mallet  which  shape 
the  strong  life  into  beauty.  The  rough  ledge 
on  the  hillside  complains  of  the  drill,  of  the 
blasting  which  disturbs  its  peace  of  centuries ; 
it  is  not  pleasant  to  be  rent  with  powder,  to 
be  hammered  and  squared  by  the  quarr3-man. 
But  look  again ; behold  the  magnificent  statue. 


USES  OF  OBSTACLES 


79 


the  monument,  chiseled  into  grace  and 
beauty,  telling  its  grand  story  of  valor  in  the 
public  square  for  centuries. 

The  statue  would  have  slept  in  the  marble 
forever  but  for  the  blasting,  the  chiseling,  and 
the  polishing.  The  angel  of  our  higher  and 
nobler  selves  would  remain  forever  unknown 
in  the  rough  quarries  of  our  lives  but  for  the 
blastings  of  affliction,  the  chiseling  of  obsta- 
cles, and  the  sand-papering  of  a thousand  an- 
noyances. 

Who  has  not  observed  the  patience,  the  calm 
endurance,  the  sweet  loveliness  chiseled  out  of 
some  rough  life  by  the  reversal  of  fortune  or 
by  some  terrible  affliction? 

How  many  business  men  have  made  their 
greatest  strides  toward  manhood,  and  devel- 
oped their  greatest  virtues  when  reverses  of 
fortune  have  swept  away  everything  they 
had  in  the  world ; when  disease  had  robbed 
them  of  all  they  held  dear  in  life!  Often 
we  can  not  see  the  angel  in  the  quarry  of 
our  lives,  the  statue  of  manhood,  until  the 
blasts  of  misfortune  have  rent  the  ledge,  and 
difficulties  and  obstacles  have  squared  and 
chiseled  the  granite  blocks  into  grace  and 
beauty. 

Many  a man  has  been  ruined  into  salvation. 


8o 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


The  lightning  which  smote  his  dearest  hopes 
opened  up  a new  rift  in  his  dark  life,  and 
gave  him  glimpses  of  himself  which,  until 
then,  he  had  never  seen.  The  grave  buried 
his  dearest  hopes,  but  uncovered  in  his  nature 
possibilities  of  patience,  endurance,  and  hope 
which  he  never  before  dreamed  he  possessed. 

“ Adversity  is  a severe  instructor,”  says 
Edmund  Burke,  “ set  over  us  by  one  who 
knows  us  better  than  we  do  ourselves,  as  he 
loves  us  better  too.  He  that  wrestles  with 
us  strengthens  our  nerves  and  sharpens  our 
skill.  Our  antagonist  is  our  helper.  This 
conflict  with  difficulty  makes  us  acquainted 
with  our  object,  and  compels  us  to  consider  it 
in  all  its  relations.  It  will  not  suffer  us  to  be 
superficial.” 

Men  who  have  the  right  kind  of  material 
in  them  will  assert  their  personality  and  rise 
in  spite  of  a thousand  adverse  circumstances. 
You  can  not  keep  them  down.  Every  obsta- 
cle seems  only  to  add  to  their  ability  to  get 
on. 

The  greatest  men  will  ever  be  those  who 
have  risen  from  the  ranks.  It  is  said  that 
there  are  ten  thousand  chances  to  one  that 
genius,  talent,  and  virtue  shall  issue  from  a 
farmhouse  rather  than  from  a palace. 


USES  OF  OBSTACLES  8i 

Adversity  exasperates  fools,  dejects  Cow- 
ards, but  draws  out  the  faculties  of  the  wise 
and  industrious,  puts  the  modest  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  trying  their  skill,  awes  the  opu- 
lent, and  makes  the  idle  industrious.  The 
storms  of  adversity,  like  those  of  the  ocean, 
rouse  the  faculties,  and  excite  the  invention, 
prudence,  skill,  and  fortitude  of  the  voyager. 
A man  upon  whom  continuous  sunshine  falls 
is  like  the  earth  in  August : he  becomes 
parched  and  dry  and  hard  and  close-grained. 
Men  have  drawn  from  adversity  the  elements 
of  greatness. 

Beethoven  was  almost  totally  deaf  and  bur- 
dened with  sorrow  when  he  produced  his 
greatest  works.  Schiller  wrote  his  best  books 
in  great  bodily  suffering.  He  was  not  free 
from  pain  for  fifteen  years.  Milton  wrote  his 
leading  productions  when  blind,  poor,  and 
sick.  “ Who  best  can  suffer,”  said  he,  “ best 
can  do.”  Bunyan  said  that,  if  it  were  lawful, 
he  could  even  pray  for  greater  trouble,  for 
the  greater  comfort’s  sake. 

Not  until  the  breath  of  the  plague  had 
blasted  a hundred  thousand  lives,  and  the 
great  fire  had  licked  up  cheap,  shabby,  wicked 
London,  did  she  arise,  phoenix-like,  from  her 
ashes  and  ruin,  a grand  and  mighty  city. 


82 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


True  salamanders  live  best  in  the  furnace  of 
persecution. 

Many  of  our  best  poets 

“ Are  cradled  into  poetry  by  wrong. 

And  learn  in  suffering  what  they  teach  in  song.” 

Byron  was  stung  into  a determination  to 
go  to  the  top  by  a scathing  criticism  of  his 
first  book,  “ Hours  of  Idleness,”  published 
when  he  was  but  nineteen  years  of  age. 
Macaulay  said,  “ There  is  scarce  an  instance 
in  history  of  so  sudden  a rise  to  so  dizzy  an 
eminence  as  Byron  reached.”  In  a few  years 
he  stood  by  the  side  of  such  men  as  Scott, 
Southey,  and  Campbell,  and  died  at  thirty- 
seven,  that  age  so  fatal  to  genius.  Many  an 
orator  like  “ stuttering  Jack  Curran,”  or  “ Or- 
ator Mum,”  as  he  was  once  called,  has  been 
spurred  into  eloquence  by  ridicule  and  abuse. 

This  is  the  crutch  age.  “ Helps  ” and 
“ aids  ” are  advertised  everywhere.  We  have 
institutes,  colleges,  universities,  teachers, 
books,  libraries,  newspapers,  magazines.  Our 
thinking  is  done  for  us.  Our  problems  are 
all  worked  out  in  “ explanations  ” and  “ keys.” 
Our  boys  are  too  often  tutored  through  col- 
lege with  very  little  study.  “ Short  roads  ” 
and  “ abridged  methods  ” are  characteristic  of 


USES  OF  OBSTACLES 


83 


the  century.  Ingenious  methods  are  used 
everywhere  to  get  the  drudgery  out  of  the 
college  course.  Newspapers  give  us  our  pol- 
itics, and  preachers  our  religion.  Self-help 
and  self-reliance  are  getting  old-fashioned. 
Nature,  as  if  conscious  of  delayed  blessings, 
has  rushed  to  man’s  relief  with  her  wondrous 
forces,  and  undertakes  to  do  the  world’s 
drudgery  and  emancipate  him  from  Eden’s 
curse. 

But  do  not  misinterpret  her  edict.  She 
emancipates  from  the  lower  only  to  call  to 
the  higher.  She  does  not  bid  the  world  go 
and  play  while  she  does  the  work.  She  eman- 
cipates the  muscles  only  to  employ  the  brain 
and  heart. 

The  most  beautiful  as  well  as  the  strongest 
characters  are  not  developed  in  warm  climates, 
where  man  finds  his  bread  ready  made  on 
trees,  and  where  exertion  is  a great  effort, 
but  rather  in  a trying  climate  and  on  a stub- 
born soil.  It  is  not  chance  that  returns  to 
the  Hindoo  ryot  a penny  and  to  the  American 
laborer  a dollar  for  his  daily  toil ; that  makes 
Mexico  with  its  mineral  wealth  poor,  and 
New  England  with  its  granite  and  ice  rich. 
It  is  rugged  necessity,  it  is  the  struggle  to 
obtain;  it  is  poverty,  the  priceless  spur,  that 


84  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


develops  the  stamina  of  manhood,  and  calls 
the  race  out  of  barbarism.  Intelligent  labor 
found  the  world  a wilderness  and  has  made 
it  a garden. 

As  the  sculptor  thinks  only  of  the  angel 
imprisoned  in  the  marble  block,  so  Nature 
cares  only  for  the  man  or  woman  shut  up  in 
the  human  being.  The  sculptor  cares  nothing 
for  the  block  as  such ; Nature  has  little  regard 
for  the  mere  lump  of  breathing  clay.  The 
sculptor  will  chip  off  all  unnecessary  mate- 
rial to  set  free  the  angel.  Nature  will  chip 
and  pound  us  remorselessly  to  bring  out  our 
possibilities.  She  will  strip  us  of  wealth,  hum- 
ble our  pride,  humiliate  our  ambition,  let  us 
down  from  the  ladder  of  fame,  will  discipline 
us  in  a thousand  ways,  if  she  can  develop  a 
little  character.  Everything  must  give  way 
to  that. 

“ The  hero  is  not  fed  on  sweets, 

Daily  his  own  heart  he  eats; 

Chambers  of  the  great  are  jails, 

And  head-winds  right  for  royal  sails.” 

Then  welcome  each  rebuff. 

That  turns  earth’s  smoothness  rough. 

Each  sting,  that  bids  not  sit  nor  stand  but  go. 

Browning. 


V.  ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM 


Life  is  an  arrow — therefore  you  must  know 

What  mark  to  aim  at,  how  to  use  the  bow — 

Then  draw  it  to  the  head  and  let  it  go. 

Henry  van  Dyke. 

The  important  thing  in  life  is  to  have  a great 
aim,  and  to  possess  the  aptitude  and  perseverance 
to  attain  it. — Goethe. 

“ A double-minded  man  is  unstable  in  all  his 
ways.” 

Let  every  one  ascertain  his  special  business  and 
calling,  and  then  stick  to  it  if  he  would  be  success- 
ful.— Franklin. 


HY  do  you  lead  such  a soli- 
tary life?”  asked  a friend  of 
Michael  Angelo.  “ Art  is  a 
jealous  mistress,”  replied  the 
artist ; “ she  requires  the 

Jwhole  man.”  During  his  la- 
bors at  the  Sistine  Chapel,  according  to  Dis- 
raeli, he  refused  to  meet  any  one,  even  at  his 
own  house. 

“ This  day  we  sailed  westward,  which  was 
our  course,”  were  the  simple  but  grand  words 
which  Columbus  wrote  in  his  journal  day 
after  day.  Hope  might  rise  and  fall,  terror 
and  dismay  might  seize  upon  the  crew  at  the 
mysterious  variations  of  the  compass,  but 
85 


86 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Columbus,  unappalled,  pushed  due  west  and 
nightly  added  to  his  record  the  above  words. 

“ Cut  an  inch  deeper,”  said  a member  of 
the  Old  Guard  to  the  surgeon  probing  his 
wound,  “ and  you  will  find  the  Emperor,” — 
meaning  his  heart.  By  the  marvelous  power 
of  concentrated  purpose  Napoleon  had  left 
his  name  on  the  very  stones  of  the  capital,  had 
burned  it  indelibly  into  the  heart  of  every 
Frenchman,  and  had  left  it  written  in  living 
letters  all  over  Europe.  France  to-day  has 
not  shaken  off  the  spell  of  that  name.  In  the 
fair  city  on  the  Seine  the  mystic  “ N ” con- 
fronts you  everywhere. 

Oh,  the  power  of  a great  purpose  to  work 
miracles ! It  has  changed  the  face  of  the 
world.  Napoleon  knew  that  there  were  plenty 
of  great  men  in  France,  but  they  did  not  know 
the  might  of  the  unwavering  aim  by  which 
he  was  changing  the  destinies  of  Europe.  He 
saw  that  what  was  called  the  “ balance  of 
power  ” was  only  an  idle  dream ; that,  unless 
some  master-mind  could  be  found  which  was 
a match  for  events,  the  millions  would  rule 
in  anarchy.  His  iron  will  grasped  the  situa- 
tion; and  like  William  Pitt,  he  did  not  loiter 
around  balancing  the  ^^probabilities  of  failure 
or  success,  or  dally  with  his  purpose.  There 


ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  87 


was  no  turning  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left ; no 
dreaming  away  time,  nor  building  air-castles ; 
but  one  look  and  purpose,  forward,  upward 
and  onward,  straight  to  his  goal.  His  great 
success  in  war  was  due  largely  to  his  definite- 
ness of  aim.  He  always  hit  the  bull’s-eye. 
He  was  like  a great  burning-glass,  concentrat- 
ing the  rays  of  the  sun  upon  a single  spot; 
he  burned  a hole  wherever  he  went.  After 
finding  the  weak  place  in  the  enemy’s  ranks, 
he  would  mass  his  men  and  hurl  them  like  an 
avalanche  upon  the  critical  point,  crowding 
volley  upon  volley,  icharge  upon  charge,  till 
he  made  a breach.  What  a lesson  of  the 
power  of  concentration  there  is  in  this  man’s 
life! 

To  succeed  to-day  a man  must  concentrate 
all  the  faculties  of  his  mind  upon  one  unwav- 
ering  aim,  and  have  a tenacity  of  purpose 
which  means  death  or  victory.  Every  other 
inclination  which  tempts  him  from  his  aim 
must  be  suppressed. 

A man  may  starve  on  a dozen  half-learned 
trades  or  occupations ; he  may  grow  rich  and 
famous  upon  one  trade  thoroughly  mastered, 
even  though  it  be  the  humblest. 

Even  Gladstone,  with  his  ponderous  yet 
active  brain,  said  he  could  not  do  two  things 


88 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


at  once ; he  threw  his  entire  strength  upon 
whatever  he  did.  The  intensest  energy  char- 
acterized everything  he  undertook,  even  his 
recreation.  If  such  concentration  of  energy  is 
necessary  for  the  success  of  a Gladstone, 
what  can  we  common  mortals  hope  to  accom- 
plish by  “ scatteration  ” ? 

All  great  men  have  been  noted  for  their 
power  of  concentration  which  makes  them 
oblivious  of  everything  outside  their  aim. 
Victor  Hugo  wrote  his  “ Notre  Dame  ” dur- 
ing the  revolution  of  1830,  while  the  bullets 
were  whistling  across  his  garden.  He  shut 
himself  up  in  one  room,  locking  his  clothes 
up  in  another,  lest  they  should  tempt  him  to 
go  out  into  the  street,  and  spent  most  of  that 
winter  wrapped  in  a big  gray  comforter, 
pouring  his  very  life  into  his  work. 

Abraham  Lincoln  possessed  such  power  of 
concentration  that  he  could  repeat  quite  cor- 
rectly a sermon  to  which  he  had  listened  in 
his  boyhood. 

A New  York  sportsman,  in  answer  to  an 
advertisement,  sent  twenty-five  cents  for  a 
sure  receipt  to  prevent  a shotgun  from  scat- 
tering, and  received  the  following : “ Dear 
Sir:  To  keep  a gun  from  scattering  put  in  but 
a single  shot.” 


ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  89 

It  is  the  men  who  do  one  thing  in  this 
world  who  come  to  the  front.  Who  is  the 
favorite  actor?  It  is  a Jefferson,  who  devotes 
a lifetime  to  a “ Rip  Van  Winkle,”  a Booth, 
an  Irving,  a Kean,  who  plays  one  character 
until  he  can  play  it  better  than  any  other  man 
living,  and  not  the  shallow  players  who  im- 
personate all  parts.  The  great  man  is  the  one 
who  never  steps  outside  of  his  specialty  or 
dissipates  his  individuality.  It  is  an  Edison, 
a Morse,  a Bell,  a Howe,  a Stephenson,  a 
Watt.  It  is  an  Adam  Smith,  spending  ten 
years  on  the  “Wealth  of  Nations.”  It  is  a 
Gibbon,  giving  twenty  years  to  his  “ Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.”  It  is  a 
Hume,  writing  thirteen  hours  a day  on  his 
“ History  of  England.”  It  is  a Webster, 
spending  thirty-six  years  on  his  dictionary. 
It  is  a Bancroft,  working  twenty-six  years  on 
his  “ History  of  the  United  States.”  It  is  a 
Field,  crossing  the  ocean  fifty  times  to  lay  a 
cable,  while  the  world  ridicules.  It  is  a New- 
ton, writing  his  “ Chronology  of  Ancient  Na- 
tions ” sixteen  times. 

A one-talent  man  who  decides  upon  a defi- 
nite object  accomplishes  more  than  a ten- 
talent  man  who  scatters  his  energies  and 
never  knows  exactly  what  he  will  do.  The 


90 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


weakest  living  creature,  by  concentrating  his 
powers  upon  one  thing,  can  accomplish  some- 
thing; the  strongest,  by  dispersing  his  over 
many,  may  fail  to  accomplish  anything. 

A great  purpose  is  cumulative ; and,  like  a 
great  magnet,  it  attracts  all  that  is  kindred 
along  the  stream  of  life. 

A Yankee  can  splice  a rope  in  many  differ- 
ent ways ; an  English  sailor  only  knows  one 
way,  but  that  is  the  best  one.  It  is  the  one- 
sided man,  the  sharp-edged  man,  the  man 
of  single  and  intense  purpose,  the  man'  of 
one  idea,  who  cuts  his  way  through  obstacles 
and  forges  to  the  front.  The  time  has  gone 
forever  when  a Bacon  can  span  universal 
knowledge ; or  when,  absorbing  all  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  times,  a Dante  can  sustain  argu- 
ments against  fourteen  disputants  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris,  and  conquer  in  them  all. 
The  day  when  a man  can  successfully  drive  a 
dozen  callings  abreast  is  a thing  of  the  past. 
Concentration  is  the  keynote  of  the  century. 

Scientists  estimate  that  there  is  energy 
enough  in  less  than  fifty  acres  of  sunshine  to 
run  all  the  machinery  in  the  world,  if  it  could 
be  concentrated.  But  the  sun  might  blaze  out 
upon  the  earth  forever  without  setting  any- 
thing on  fire ; although  these  rays  focused  by 


ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  91 


a burning-glass  would  melt  solid  granite,  or 
even  change  a diamond  into  vapor.  There 
are  plenty  of  men  who  have  ability  enough; 
the  rays  of  their  faculties,  taken  separately, 
are  all  right,  but  they  are  powerless  to  collect 
them,  to  bring  them  all  to  bear  upon  a single 
spot.  Versatile  men,  universal  geniuses,  are 
usually  weak,  because  they  have  no  power  to 
concentrate  their  talents  upon  one  point,  and 
this  makes  all  the  difference  between  success 
and  failure. 

Chiseled  upon  the  tomb  of  a disappointed, 
heartbroken  king,  Joseph  II.  of  Austria,  in 
the  Royal  Cemetery  at  Vienna,  a traveler 
tells  us,  is  this  epitaph : “ Here  lies  a mon- 

arch who,  with  the  best  of  intentions,  never 
carried  out  a single  plan.” 

Sir  James  Mackintosh  was  a man  of  re- 
markable ability.  He  excited  in  every  one 
who  knew  him  the  greatest  expectations. 
Many  watched  his  career  with  much  interest, 
expecting  that  he  would  dazzle  the  world ; but 
there  was  no  purpose  in  his  life.  He  had 
intermittent  attacks  of  enthusiasm  for  doing 
great  things,  but  his  zeal  all  evaporated  before 
he  could  decide  what  to  do.  This  fatal  defect 
in  his  character  kept  him  balancing  between 
conflicting  motives ; and  his  whole  life  was 


92 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


almost  thrown  away.  He  lacked  power  to 
choose  one  object  and  persevere  with  a single 
aim,  sacrificing  every  interfering  inclination. 
He,  for  instance,  vacillated  for  weeks  trying 
to  determine  whether  to  use  “ usefulness  ” or 
“ utility  ” in  a composition. 

One  talent  utilized  in  a single  direction  will 
do  infinitely  more  than  ten  talents  scattered. 
A thimbleful  of  powder  behind  a ball  in  a 
rifle  will  do  more  execution  than  a carload 
of  powder  unconfined.  The  rifle-barrel  is 
the  purpose  that  gives  direct  aim  to  the  pow- 
der, which  otherwise,  no  matter  how  good  it 
might  be,  would  be  powerless.  The  poorest 
scholar  in  school  or  college  often,  in  practical 
life,  far  outstrips  the  class  leader  or  senior 
wrangler,  simply  because  what  little  ability 
he  has  he  employs  for  a definite  object,  while 
the  other,  depending  upon  his  general  ability 
and  brilliant  prospects,  never  concentrates  his 
powers. 

It  is  fashionable  to  ridicule  the  man  of  one 
idea,  but  the  men  who  have  changed  the  front 
of  the  world  have  been  men  of  a single  aim. 
No  man  can  make  his  mark  on  this  age  of 
specialties  who  is  not  a man  of  one  idea,  one 
supreme  aim,  one  master  passion.  The  man 
who  would  make  himself  felt  on  this  bustling 


ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  93 


planet,  who  would  make  a breach  in  the  com- 
pact conservatism  of  our  civilization,  must 
play  all  his  guns  on  one  point.  A wavering 
aim,  a faltering  purpose,  has  no  place  in  the 
twentieth  century.  “ Mental  shiftlessness  ” 
is  the  cause  of  many  a failure.  The  world 
is  full  of  unsuccessful  men  who  spend  their 
lives  letting  empty  buckets  down  into  empty 
wells. 

“ Mr.  A.  often  laughs  at  me,”  said  a young 
American  chemist,  “ because  I have  but  one 
idea.  He  talks  about  everything,  aims  to 
excel  in  many  things ; but  I have  learned  that, 
if  I ever  wish  to  make  a breach,  I must  play 
my  guns  continually  upon  one  point.”  This 
great  chemist,  when  an  obscure  schoolmaster, 
used  to  study  by  the  light  of  a pine  knot  in 
a log  cabin.  Not  many  years  later  he  was 
performing  experiments  in  electro-magnetism 
before  English  earls,  and  subsequently  he  was 
at  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest  scientific  in- 
stitutes of  this  country.  He  was  the  late  Pro- 
fessor Henry,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
Washington. 

We  should  guard  against  a talent  which  we 
can  not  hope  to  practise  in  perfection,  says 
Goethe.  Improve  it  as  we  may,  we  shall  al- 
ways, in  the  end,  when  the  merit  of  the  mat- 


94 


RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


ter  has  become  apparent  to  us,  painfully  la- 
ment the  loss  of  time  and  strength  devoted  to 
such  botching.  An  old  proverb  says : “ The 
master  of  one  trade  will  support  a wife  and 
seven  children,  and  the  master  of  seven  will 
not  support  himself.” 

It  is  the  single  aim  that  wins.  Men  with 
monopolizing  ambitions  rarely  live  in  history. 
They  do  not  focus  their  powers  long  enough 
to  burn  their  names  indelibly  into  the  roll  of 
honor.  Edward  Everett,  even  with  his  mag- 
nificent powers,  disappointed  the  expectations 
of  his  friends.  He  spread  himself  over  the 
whole  field  of  knowledge  and  elegant  culture; 
but  the  mention  of  the  name  of  Everett  does 
not  call  up  any  one  great  achievement  as 
does  that  of  names  like  Garrison  and  Phillips. 
Voltaire  called  the  Frenchman  La  Harpe  an 
oven  which  was  always  heating,  but  which 
never  cooked  anything.  Hartley  Coleridge 
was  splendidly  endowed  with  talent,  but  there 
was  one  fatal  lack  in  his  character — he  had 
no  definite  purpose,  and  his  life  was  a fail- 
ure. Unstable  as  water,  he  could  not  excel. 
Southey,  the  uncle  of  Coleridge,  says  of  him: 
“ Coleridge  has  two  left  hands.”  He  was  so 
morbidly  shy  from  living  alone  in  his  dream- 
land that  he  could  not  open  a letter  without 


ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  95 


trembling.  He  would  often  rally  from  his 
purposeless  life,  and  resolve  to  redeem  him- 
self from  the  oblivion  he  saw  staring  him  in 
the  face ; but,  like  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  he 
remained  a man  of  promise  merely  to  the  end 
of  his  life. 

The  man  who  succeeds  has  a program.  He 
fires  his  course  and  adheres  to  it.  He  lays 
his  plans  and  executes  them.  He  goes  straight 
to  his  goal.  He  is  not  pushed  this  way  and 
that  every  time  a difficulty  is  thrown  in  his 
path ; if  he  can  not  get  over  it  he  goes  through 
it.  Constant  and  steady  use  of  the  faculties 
under  a central  purpose  gives  strength  and 
power,  while  the  use  of  faculties  without  an 
aim  or  end  only  weakens  them.  The  mind 
must  be  focused  on  a definite  end,  or,  like 
machinery  without  a balance-wheel,  it  will 
rack  itself  to  pieces. 

This  age  of  concentration  calls,  not  for  ed- 
ucated men  merely,  not  for  talented  men,  not 
for  geniuses,  not  for  jacks-of-all-trades,  but 
for  men  who  are  .trained  to  do  one  thing  as 
well  as  it  can  be  done.  Napoleon  could  go 
through  the  drill  of  his  soldiers  better  than 
any  one  of  his  men. 

Stick  to  your  aim.  The  constant  changing 
of  one’s  occupation  is  fatal  to  all  success. 


96  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


After  a young  man  has  spent  five  or  six 
years  in  a dry  goods  store,  he  concludes  that 
he  would  rather  sell  groceries,  thereby  throw- 
ing away  five  years  of  valuable  experience 
which  will  be  of  very  little  use  to  him  in  the 
grocery  business ; and  so  he  spends  a large 
part  of  his  life  drifting  around  from  one  kind 
of  employment  to  another,  learning  part  of 
each  but  all  of  none,  forgetting  that  expe- 
rience is  worth  more  to  him  than  money  and 
that  the  years  devoted  to  learning  his  trade 
or  occupation  are  the  most  valuable.  Half- 
learned  trades,  no  matter  if  a man  has  twenty, 
will  never  give  him  a good  living,  much  less 
a competency,  while  wealth  is  absolutely  out 
of  the  question. 

How  many  young  men  fail  to  reach  the 
point  of  efficiency  in  one  line  of  work  before 
they  get  discouraged  and  venture  into  some- 
thing else ! How  easy  to  see  the  thorns  in 
one’s  own  profession  or  vocation,  and  only 
the  roses  in  that  of  another ! A young  man  in 
business,  for  instance,  seeing  a physician  rid- 
ing about  town  in  his  carriage,  visiting  his 
patients,  imagines  that  a doctor  must  have  an 
easy,  ideal  life,  and  wonders  that  he  himself 
should  have  embarked  in  an  occupation  so 
full  of  disagreeable  drudgery  and  hardships. 


ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  97 


He  does  not  know  of  the  years  of  dry,  tediouSj| 
study  which  the  physician  has  consumed,  the 
months  and  perhaps  years  of  waiting  for  pa- 
tients, the  dry  detail  of  anatomy,  the  endless 
names  of  drugs  and  technical  terms. 

There  is  a sense  of  great  power  in  a voca- 
tion after  a man  has  reached  the  point  of 
efficiency  in  it,  the  point  of  productiveness, 
the  point  where  his  skill  begins  to  tell  and 
brings  in  returns.  Up  to  this  point  of  effi- 
ciency, while  he  is  learning  his  trade,  the 
time  seems  to  have  been  almost  thrown  away. 
But  he  has  been  storing  up  a vast  reserve  of 
knowledge  of  detail,  laying  foundations,  form- 
ing his  acquaintances,  gaining  his  reputation 
for  truthfulness,  trustworthiness,  and  integ- 
rity, and  in  establishing  his  credit.  When 
he  reaches  this  point  of  efficiency,  all  the 
knowledge  and  skill,  character,  influence,  and 
credit  thus  gained  come  to  his  aid,  and  he 
soon  finds  that  in  what  seemed  almost  thrown 
away  lies  the  secret  of  his  prosperity.  The 
credit  he  established  as  a clerk,  the  confidence, 
the  integrity,  the  friendships  formed,  he  finds 
equal  to  a large  capital  when  he  starts  out 
for  himself  and  takes  the  highway  to  fortune; 
while  the  young  man  who  half  learned  several 
trades,  got  discouraged  and  stopped  just  short 


98  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


of  the  point  of  efficiency,  just  this  side  of 
success,  is  a failure  because  he  didn’t  go  far 
enough ; he  did  not  press  on  to  the  point  at 
which  his  acquisition  would  have  been  profit- 
able. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  nearly  all  very  suc- 
cessful men  have  made  a life  work  of  one 
thing,  we  see  on  every  hand  hundreds  of 
young  men  and  women  flitting  about  from 
occupation  to  occupation,  trade  to  trade,  in 
one  thing  to-day  and  another  to-morrow, — 
just  as  though  they  could  go  from  one  thing 
to  another  by  turning  a switch,  as  though  they 
could  run  as  well  on  another  track  as  on  the 
one  they  have  left,  regardless  of  the  fact  that 
no  two  careers  have  the  same  gage,  that 
every  man  builds  his  own  road  upon  which 
another  man’s  engine  can  not  run  either  wdth 
speed  or  safety.  This  fickleness,  this  disposi- 
tion to  shift  about  from  one  occupation  to  an- 
other, seems  to  be  peculiar  to  American  life, 
so  much  so  that,  when  a young  man  meets  a 
friend  whom  he  has  not  seen  for  some  time, 
the  commonest  question  to  ask  is,  “ What  are 
you  doing  now  ? ” showing  the  improbability 
or  uncertainty  that  he  is  doing  to-day  what  he 
was  doing  when  they  last  met. 

Some  people  think  that  if  they  “ keep  ever- 


ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  99 


lastingly  at  it  ” they  will  succeed,  but  this  is 
not  always  so.  Working  without  a plan  is  as 
foolish  as  going  to  sea  without  a compass. 

A ship  which  has  broken  its  rudder  in  mid- 
ocean may  “ keep  everlastingly  at  it,”  may 
keep  on  a full  head  of  steam,  driving  about 
all  the  time,  but  it  never  arrives  anywhere,  it 
never  reaches  any  port  unless  by  accident ; and 
if  it  does  find  a haven,  its  cargo  may  not  be 
suited  to  the  people,  the  climate,  or  condi- 
tions. The  ship  must  be  directed  to  a definite 
port,  for  which  its  cargo  is  adapted,  and  where 
there  is  a demand  for  it,  and  it  must  aim 
steadily  for  that  port  through  sunshine  and 
storm,  through  tempest  and  fog.  So  a man 
who  would  succeed  must  not  drift  about  rud- 
derless on  the  ocean  of  life.  He  must  not 
only'  steer  straight  toward  his  destined  port 
when  the  ocean  is  smooth,  when  the  currents 
and  winds  serve,  but  he  must  keep  his  course 
in  the  very  teeth  of  the  wind  and  the  tempest, 
and  even  when  enveloped  in  the  fogs  of  dis- 
appointment and  mists  of  opposition.  At- 
lantic liners  do  not  stop  for  fogs  or  storms ; 
they  plow  straight  through  the  rough  seas 
with  only  one  thing  in  view,  their  destined 
port,  and  no  matter  what  the  weather  is,  no 
matter  what  obstacles  they  encounter,  their 


100  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


arrival  in  port  can  be  predicted  to  within  a 
few  hours. 

On  the  prairies  of  South  America  there 
grows  a flower  that  always  inclines  in  the 
same  direction.  If  a traveler  loses  his  way 
and  has  neither  compass  nor  chart,  by  turning 
to  this  flower  he  will  find  a guide  on  which 
he  can  implicitly  rely;  for  no  matter  how  the 
rains  descend  or  the  winds  blow,  its  leaves 
point  to  the  north.  So  there  are  many  men 
whose  purposes  are  so  well  known,  whose  aims 
are  so  constant,  that  no  matter  what  difficul- 
ties they  may  encounter,  or  what  opposition 
they  may  meet,  you  can  tell  almost  to  a cer- 
tainty where  they  will  come  out.  They  may 
be  delayed  by  head  winds  and  counter  cur- 
rents, but  they  will  always  head  for  the  port 
and  will  steer  straight  towards  the  harbor. 
You  know  to  a certainty  that  whatever  else 
they  may  lose,  they  will  not  lose  their  compass 
or  rudder. 

Whatever  may  happen  to  a man  of  this 
stamp,  even  though  his  sails  may  be  swept 
away  and  his  mast  stripped  to  the  deck, 
though  he  may  be  wrecked  by  the  storms  of 
life,  the  needle  of  his  compass  will  still  point 
to  the  North  Star  of  his  hope.  Whatever 
comes,  his  life  will  not  be  purposeless.  Even 


ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  loi 


a wreck  that  makes  its  port  is  a greater  suc- 
cess than  a full-rigged  ship  with  all  its  sails 
flying,  with  every  mast  and  every  rope  intact, 
which  merely  drifts  along  into  an  accidental 
harbor. 

"To  fix  a wandering  life  and  give  it  direc- 
tion is  not  an  easy  task,  but  a life  which  has 
no  definite  aim  is  sure  to  be  frittered  away 
in  empty  and  purposeless  dreams.  “ Listless 
triflers,”  “ busy  idlers,”  “ purposeless  busybod- 
ies,”  are  seen  everywhere.  A healthy,  definite 
purpose  is  a remedy  for  a thousand  ills  which 
attend  aimless  lives.  Discontent  and  dissatis- 
faction flee  before  a definite  purpose.  What 
we  do  begrudgingly  without  a purpose  be- 
comes a delight  with  one,  and  no  work  is 
well  done  nor  healthily  done  which  is  not 
enthusiastically  done. 

Mere  energy  is  not  enough ; it  must  be  con- 
centrated on  some  steady,  unwavering  aim. 
What  is  more  Common  than  “ unsuccessful 
geniuses,”  or  failures  with  “ commanding  tal- 
ents”? Indeed,  the  term  “unrewarded  gen- 
ius ” has  become  a proverb.  Every  town  has 
unsuccessful  educated  and  talented  men.  But 
education  is  of  no  value,  talent  is  worthless, 
unless  it  can  do  something,  achieve  something. 
Men  who  can  do  something  at  everything  and 


102  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


a very  little  at  anything  are  not  wanted  in  this 
age. 

What  this  age  wants  is  young  men  and 
women  who  can  do  one  thing  without  losing 
their  identity  or  individuality,  or  becoming 
narrow,  cramped,  or  dwarfed.  Nothing  can 
take  the  place  of  an  all-absorbing  purpose; 
education  can  not,  genius  can  not,  talent  can 
not,  industry  can  not,  will-power  can  not.  The 
purposeless  life  must  ever  be  a failure.  What 
good  are  powers,  faculties,  unless  we  can  use 
them  for  a purpose?  What  good  would  a 
chest  of  tools  do  a carpenter  unless  he  could 
use  them?  A college  education,  a head  full 
of  knowledge,  are  worth  little  to  the  men  who 
can  not  use  them  to  some  definite  end. 

The  man  without  a purpose  never  leaves 
his  mark  upon  the  world.  He  has  no  individ- 
uality; he  is  absorbed  in  the  mass,  lost  in  the 
crowd,  weak,  wavering,  and  incompetent. 

“ Consider,  my  lord,”  said  Rowland  Hill  to 
the  Prime  Minister  of  England,  “ that  a letter 
to  Ireland  and  the  answer  back  would  cost 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  my  affectionate 
countrymen  more  than  a fifth  of  their  week’s 
wages.  If  you  shut  the  post-office  to  them, 
which  you  do  now,  you  shut  out  warm  hearts 
and  generous  affections  from  home,  kindred. 


ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  103 


and  friends.”  The  lad  learned  that  it  cost  to 
carry  a letter  from  London  to  Edinburgh, 
four  hundred  and  four  miles,  one  eighteenth 
of  a cent,  while  the  government  charged  for 
a simple  folded  sheet  of  paper  twenty-eight 
scents,  and  twice  as  much  if  there  was  the 
smallest  inclosure.  Against  the  opposition  and 
contempt  of  the  post-office  department  he  at 
length  carried  his  point,  and  on  January  10, 
1840,  penny  postage  was  established  through- 
out Great  Britain.  Mr.  Hill  was  chosen  to 
introduce  the  system,  at  a salary  of  fifteen 
hundred  pounds  a year.  His  success  was 
most  encouraging,  but  at  the  end  of  two  years 
a Tory  minister  dismissed  him  without  pay- 
ing for  his  services,  as  agreed.  The  public 
was  indignant,  and  at  once  contributed  sixty- 
five  thousand  dollars ; and,  at  the  request  of 
Queen  Victoria,  Parliament  voted  him  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  cash,  together  with 
ten  thousand  dollars  a year  for  life. 

It  is  a great  purpose  which  gives  meaning 
to  life ; it  unifies  all  our  powers,  binds  them 
together  in  one  cable  and  makes  strong  and 
united  what  was  weak,  separated,  scattered. 

“ Smatterers  ” are  weak  and  superficial.  Of 
what  use  is  a man  who  knows  a little  of 
everything  and  not  much  of  anything?  It  is 


104  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


the  momentum  of  constantly  repeated  acts  that 
tells  the  story.  “ Let  thine  eyes  look  straight 
before  thee.  Ponder  the  path  of  thy  feet  and 
let  all  thy  ways  be  established.  Turn  not  to 
the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left.”  One  great 
secret  of  St.  Paul’s  power  lay  in  his  strong 
purpose.  Nothing  could  daunt,  nothing  intim- 
idate him.  The  Roman  Emperor  could  not 
muzzle  him,  the  dungeon  could  not  appal  him, 
no  prison  suppress  him,  obstacles  could  not 
discourage  him.  “ This  one  thing  I do  ” was 
written  all  over  his  work.  The  quenchless 
zeal  of  his  mighty  purpose  burned  its  way 
down  through  the  centuries,  and  its  conta- 
gion will  never  cease  to  fire  the  hearts  of  men. 

“Try  and  come  home  somebody,”  said  his 
mother  to  Gambetta  as  she  sent  him  off  to 
Paris  to  school.  Poverty  pinched  this  lad 
hard  in  his  little  garret  study  and  his  clothes 
were  shabby,  but  what  of  that?  He  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  get  on  in  the  world.  For 
years  he  was  chained  to  his  desk  and  worked 
like  a hero.  At  last  his  opportunity  came. 
Jules  Favre  was  to  plead  a great  cause  on  a 
certain  day ; but,  being  ill,  he  chose  this  young 
man,  absolutely  unknown,  rough  and  uncouth, 
to  take  his  place.  For  many  years  Gambetta 
had  been  preparing  for  such  an  opportunity, 


ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  105 


and  he  was  equal  to  it.  He  made  one  of  the 
greatest  speeches  that  up  to  that  time  had 
ever  been  made  in  France.  That  night  all 
the  papers  in  Paris  were  sounding  the  praises 
of  this  ragged,  uncouth  Bohemian,  and  soon 
all  France  recognized  him  as  the  Republican 
leader.  This  sudden  rise  was  not  due  to  luck 
or  accident.  He  had  been  steadfastly  work- 
ing and  fighting  his  way  up  against  opposi- 
tions and  poverty  for  just  such  an  occasion. 
Had  he  not  been  equal  to  it,  it  would  only 
have  made  him  ridiculous.  What  a stride ; 
yesterday,  poor  and  unknown,  living  in  a gar- 
ret ; to-day,  deputy-elect,  in  the  city  of  Mar- 
seilles, and  the  great  Republican  leader! 

When  Louis  Napoleon  had  been  defeated  at 
Sedan  and  had  delivered  his  sword  to  William 
of  Prussia,  and  when  the  Prussian  army  was 
marching  on  Paris,  the  brave  Gambetta  went 
out  of  the  besieged  city  in  a balloon  barely 
grazed  by  the  Prussian  guns,  landed  in  Ami- 
ens, and  by  almost  superhuman  skill  raised 
three  armies  of  800,000  men,  provided  for 
their  maintenance,  and  directed  their  military 
operations.  A German  officer  said.  “ This  co- 
lossal energy  is  the  most  remarkable  event  of 
modern  history,  and  will  carry  down  Gambet- 
ta’s  name  to  remote  posterity.”  This  youth 


io6  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


who  was  poring  over  his  books  in  an  attic 
while  other  youths  were  promenading  the 
Champs  Elysees,  although  but  thirty-two  years 
old,  was  now  virtually  dictator  of  France,  and 
the  greatest  orator  in  the  Republic.  What  a 
striking  example  of  the  great  reserve  of  per- 
sonal power,  which,  even  in  dissolute  lives,  is 
sometimes  called  out  by  a great  emergency  or 
sudden  sorrow,  and  ever  after  leads  the  life 
to  victory ! When  Gambetta  found  that  his 
first  speech  had  electrified  all  France,  his 
great  reserve  rushed  to  the  front ; he  was  sud- 
denly weaned  from  dissipation,  and  resolved 
to  make  his  mark  in  the  world.  Nor  did  he 
lose  his  head  in  his  quick  leap  into  fame. 
He  still  lived  in  the  upper  room  in  the  musty 
Latin  Quarter,  and  remained  a poor  man, 
without  stain  of  dishonor,  though  he  might 
easily  have  made  himself  a millionaire.  When 
he  died  the  “ Figaro  ” said,  “ The  Republic  has 
lost  its  greatest  man.”  American  boys  should 
study  this  great  man,  for  he  loved  our  coun- 
try, and  took  our  Republic  as  the  pattern  for 
France. 

There  is  no  grander  sight  in  the  world  than 
that  of  a young  man  fired  with  a great  pur- 
pose, dominated  by  one  unwavering  aim.  He 
is  bound  to  win ; the  world  stands  to  one  side 


ONE  UNWAVERING  AIM  107 


and  lets  him  pass ; it  always  makes  way  for 
the  man  with  a will  in  him.  He  does  not  have 
one-half  the  opposition  to  overcome  that  the 
undecided,  purposeless  man  has  who,  like 
driftwood,  runs  against  all  sorts  of  snags  to 
which  he  must  yield  simply  because  he  has 
no  momentum  to  force  them  out  of  his  way. 
What  a sublime  spectacle  it  is  to  see  a youth 
going  straight  to  his  goal,  cutting  his  way 
through  difficulties,  and  surmounting  obstacles 
which  dishearten  others,  as  though  they  were 
but  stepping-stones!  Defeat,  like  a gymna- 
sium, only  gives  him  new  power;  opposition 
only  doubles  his  exertions ; dangers  only  in- 
crease his  courage.  No  matter  what  comes 
to  him,  sickness,  poverty,  disaster,  he  never 
turns  his  eye  from  his  goal. 


"Duos  qui  sequitur  lepores,  neutrum  capit.' 


VI.  SELF-HELP 


I learned  that  no  man  in  God’s  wide  earth  is 
either  willing  or  able  to  help  any  other  man. — 
Pestalozzi. 

What  I am  I have  made  myself. — Humphry 
Davy. 

Be  sure,  my  son,  and  remember  that  the  best  men 
always  make  themselves. — Patrick  Henry. 

Hereditary  bondsmen,  know  ye  not 

Who  would  be  free  themselves  must  strike  the  blow  ? 

Byron. 

Who  waits  to  have  his  task  marked  out. 

Shall  die  and  leave  his  errand  unfulfilled. 

Lowell. 

OLONEL  CROCKETT 
makes  room  for  himself ! ” 
exclaimed  a backwoods  con- 
gressman in  answer  to  the 
exclamation  of  the  White 
House  usher  to  “ IMake  room 
for  Colonel  Crockett ! ” This  remarkable  man 
was  not  afraid  to  oppose  the  head  of  a great 
nation.  He  preferred  being  right  to  being 
president.  Though  rough,  uncultured,  and 
uncouth,  Crockett  was  a man  of  great  courage 
and  determination. 

“ Poverty  is  uncomfortable,  as  I can  tes- 
io8 


SELF-HELP 


109 

tify,”  said  James  A.  Garfield;  “but  nine  times 
out  of  ten  the  best  thing  that  can  happen  to 
a young  man  is  to  be  tossed  overboard  and 
compelled  to  sink  or  swim  for  himself.  In 
all  my  acquaintance  I have  never  known  a 
man  to  be  drowned  who  was  worth  the  sav- 
ing.” 

Garfield  was  the  youngest  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  when  he  entered, 
but  he  had  not  been  in  his  seat  sixty  days  be- 
fore his  ability  was  recognized  and  his  place 
conceded.  He  stepped  to  the  front  with  the 
confidence  of  one  who  belonged  there.  He 
succeeded  because  all  the  world  in  concert 
could  not  have  kept  him  in  the  background, 
and  because  when  once  in  the  front  he  played 
his  part  with  an  intrepidity  and  a command- 
ing ease  that  were  but  the  outward  evidences 
of  the  immense  reserves  of  energy  on  which 
it  was  in  his  power  to  draw. 

“ Take  the  place  and  attitude  which  belong 
to  you,”  says  Emerson,  “ and  all  men  acqui- 
esce. The  world  must  be  just.  It  leaves 
every  man  with  profound  unconcern  to  set  his 
own  rate.” 

“ A person  under  the  firm  persuasion  that 
he  can  command  resources  virtually  has 
them,”  says  Livy. 


no  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Richard  Arkwright,  the  thirteenth  child,  in 
a hovel,  with  no  education,  no  chance,  gave  his 
spinning  model  to  the  world,  and  put  a scepter 
in  England’s  right  hand  such  as  the  queen 
never  wielded. 

Solario,  a wandering  gypsy  tinker,  fell 
deeply  in  love  with  the  daughter  of  the  painter 
Goir  Antonio  del  Fiore,  but  was  told  that 
no  one  but  a painter  as  good  as  the  father 
should  wed  the  maiden.  “ Will  you  give  me 
ten  years  to  learn  to  paint,  and  so  entitle  my- 
self to  the  hand  of  your  daughter?  ” Consent 
was  given.  Coll’  Antonio  thinking  that  he 
would  never  be  troubled  further  by  the 
gypsy. 

About  the  time  that  the  ten  years  were  to 
end  the  king’s  sister  showed  Coll’  Antonio  a 
Madonna  and  Child,  which  the  painter  ex- 
tolled in  terms  of  the  highest  praise.  Judge 
of  his  surprise  on  learning  that  Solario  was 
the  artist.  His  great  determination  gained 
him  his  bride. 

Louis  Philippe  said  he  was  the  only  sover- 
eign in  Europe  fit  to  govern,  for  he  could 
black  his  own  boots. 

When  asked  to  name  his  family  coat-of- 
arms,  a self-made  President  of  the  United 
States  replied,  “A  pair  of  shirtsleeves.” 


SELF-HELP 


III 


It  is  not  the  men  who  have  inherited  most, 
except  it  be  in  nobility  of  soul  and  purpose, 
who  have  risen  highest;  but  rather  the  men 
with  no  “ start  ” who  have  won  fortunes,  and 
have  made  adverse  circumstances  a spur  to 
goad  them  up  the  steep  mount,  where 

“Fame’s  proud  temple  shines  afar.” 

To  such  men,  every  possible  goal  is  acces- 
sible, and  honest  ambition  has  no  height  that 
genius  or  talent  may  tread,  which  has  not 
felt  the  impress  of  their  feet. 

You  may  leave  your  millions  to  your  son, 
but  have  you  really  given  him  anything? 
You  can  not  transfer  the  discipline,  the  expe- 
rience, the  power,  which  the  acquisition  has 
given  you;  you  can  not  transfer  the  delight 
■6f  achieving,  the  joy  felt  only  in  growth, 
the  pride  of  acquisition,  the  character  which 
trained  habits  of  accuracy,  method,  prompt- 
ness, patience,  dispatch,  honesty  of  dealing, 
politeness  of  manner  have  developed.  You 
can  not  transfer  the  skill,  sagacity,  prudence, 
foresight,  which  lie  concealed  in  your  wealth. 
It  meant  a great  deal  for  you,  but  means  noth- 
ing to  your  heir.  In  climbing  to  your  fortune, 
you  developed  the  muscle,  stamina,  and 
strength  which  enabled  you  to  maintain  your 


1 12  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


lofty  position,  to  keep  your  millions  intact.  You 
had  the  power  which  comes  only  from  expe- 
rience, and  which  alone  enables  you  to  stand 
firm  on  your  dizzy  height.  Your  fortune  was 
experience  to  you,  joy,  growth,  discipline,  and 
character;  to  him  it  will  be  a temptation,  an 
anxiety,  which  will  probably  dwarf  him.  It 
was  wings  to  you,  it  will  be  a dead  weight  to 
him ; to  you  it  was  education  and  expansion  of 
your  highest  powers ; to  him  it  may  mean  in- 
action, lethargy,  indolence,  weakness,  igno- 
rance. You  have  taken  the  priceless  spur — ne- 
cessity— away  from  him,  the  spur  which  has 
goaded  man  to  nearly  all  the  great  achieve- 
ments in  the  history  of  the  w^orld. 

You  thought  it  a kindness  to  deprive  your- 
self in  order  that  your  son  might  begin  where 
you  left  off.  You  thought  to  spare  him  the 
drudger}%  the  hardships,  the  deprivations,  the 
lack  of  opportunities,  the  meager  education, 
w^hich  you  had  on  the  old  farm.  But  you  have 
put  a crutch  into  his  hand  instead  of  a staff ; 
you  have  taken  away  from  him  the  incentive 
to  self-development,  to  self-elevation,  to  self- 
discipline  and  self-help,  without  which  no  real 
success,  no  real  happiness,  no  great  character 
is  ever  possible.  His  enthusiasm  will  evapo- 
rate, his  energy  will  be  dissipated,  his  ambi- 


SELF-HELP 


T13 

tion,  not  being  stimulated  by  the  struggle  for 
self-elevation,  will  gradually  die  away.  If 
you  do  everything  for  your  son  and  fight  his 
battles  for  him,  you  will  have  a weakling  on 
your  hands  at  twenty-one. 

“ My  life  is  a wreck,”  said  the  dying  Cyrus 
W.  Field,  “ my  fortune  gone,  my  home  dis- 
honored. Oh,  I was  so  unkind  to  Edward 
when  I thought  I was  being  kind.  If  I had 
only  had  firmness  enough  to  compel  my  boys 
to  earn  their  living,  then  they  would  have 
known  the  meaning  of  money.”  His  table 
was  covered  with  medals  and  certificates  of 
honor  from  many  nations,  in  recognition  of 
his  great  work  for  civilization  in  mooring  two 
continents  side  by  side  in  thought,  of  the 
fame  he  had  won  and  could  never  lose.  But 
grief  shook  the  sands  of  life  as  he  thought 
only  of  the  son  who  had  brought  disgrace 
upon  a name  before  unsullied ; the  wounds 
were  sharper  than  those  of  a serpent’s  tooth. 

During  the  great  financial  crisis  of  1857 
Maria  Mitchell,  who  was  visiting  England, 
asked  an  English  lady  what  became  of  daugh- 
ters when  no  property  was  left  them.  “ They 
live  on  their  brothers,”  was  the  reply.  “ But 
what  becomes  of  the  American  daughters,” 
asked  the  English  lady,  “ when  there  is  no 


1 14  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


money  left  ? ” “ They  earn  it,”  was  Miss 

Mitchell’s  reply. 

Men  who  have  been  bolstered  up  all  their 
lives  are  seldom  good  for  anything  in  a crisis. 
When  misfortune  comes,  they  look  around  for 
somebody  to  lean  upon.  If  the  prop  is  not 
there,  down  they  go.  Once  down,  they  are 
as  helpless  as  capsized  turtles,  or  unhorsed 
men  in  armor.  Many  a frontier  boy  has  suc- 
ceeded beyond  all  his  expectations  simply  be- 
cause all  props  were  early  knocked  out  from 
under  him  and  he  was  obliged  to  stand  upon 
his  own  feet. 

“ A man’s  best  friends  are  his  ten  fingers,” 
said  Robert  Collyer,  who  brought  his  wife  to 
America  in  the  steerage. 

There  is  no  manhood  mill  which  takes  in 
boys  and  turns  out  men.  What  you  call  “ no 
chance  ” may  be  your  only  chance.  Don’t 
wait  for  your  place  to  be  made  for  you ; make 
it  yourself.  Don’t  wait  for  somebody  to  give 
you  a lift;  lift  yourself.  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
did  not  wait  for  a call  to  a big  church  with 
a large  salary.  He  accepted  the  first  pastorate 
offered  him,  in  a little  town  near  Cincinnati. 
He  became  literally  the  light  of  the  church, 
for  he  trimmed  the  lamps,  kindled  the  fires, 
swept  the  rooms,  and  rang  the  bell.  His  sal- 


SELF-HELP 


115 

ary  was  only  about  $200  a year, — but  he  knew 
that  a fine  church  and  great  salary  can  not 
make  a great  man.  It  was  work  and  oppor- 
tunity that  he  wanted.  He  felt  that  if  there 
were  anything  in  him  work  would  bring  it  out. 

When  Beethoven  was  examining  the  work 
of  Moscheles,  he  found  written  at  the  end, 
“ Finis,  with  God’s  help.”  He  wrote  under  it, 
“ Man,  help  yourself.” 

A young  man  stood  listlessly  watching  some 
anglers  on  a bridge.  He  was  poor  and  de- 
jected. At  length,  approaching  a basket  filled 
with  fish,  he  sighed,  “ If  now  I had  these  I 
would  be  happy.  I could  sell  them  and  buy 
food  and  lodgings.”  “ I will  give  you  just  as 
many  and  just  as  good,”  said  the  owner,  who 
chanced  to  overhear  his  words,  “ if  you  will 
do  me  a trifling  favor.”  “ And  what  is  that  ? ” 
asked  the  other.  “ Only  to  tend  this  line  till 
I come  back ; I wish  to  go  on  a short  errand.” 
The  proposal  was  gladly  accepted.  The  old 
man  was  gone  so  long  that  the  young  man 
began  to  get  impatient.  Meanwhile  the  fish 
snapped  greedily  at  the  hook,  and  he  lost  all 
his  depression  in  the  excitement  of  pulling 
them  in.  When  the  owner  returned  he  had 
caught  a large  number.  Counting  out  from 
them  as  many  as  were  in  the  basket,  and  pre- 


ii6  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


senting  them  to  the  youth,  the  old  fisherman 
said,  “ I fulfil  my  promise  from  the  fish  you 
have  caught,  to  teach  you  whenever  you  see 
others  earning  what  you  need  to  waste  no 
time  in  foolish  wishing,  but  cast  a line  for 
yourself.” 

A white  squall  caught  a party  of  tourists  on 
a lake  in  Scotland,  and  threatened  to  capsize 
the  boat.  When  it  seemed  that  the  crisis  had 
really  come,  the  largest  and  strongest  man  in 
the  party,  in  a state  of  intense  fear,  said, 
“ Let  us  pray.”  “ No,  no,  my  man,”  shouted 
the  bluff  old  boatman;  “let  the  little  man 
pray.  You  take  an  oar.” 

The  grandest  fortunes  ever  accumulated  or 
possessed  on  earth  were  and  are  the  fruit  of 
endeavor  that  had  no  capital  to  begin  with 
save  energy,  intellect,  and  the  will.  From 
Croesus  down  to  Rockefeller  the  story  is  the 
same,  not  only  in  the  getting  of  wealth,  but 
also  in  the  acquirement  of  eminence ; those 
men  have  won  most  who  relied  most  upon 
themselves. 

“ The  male  inhabitants  in  the  Township  of 
Loaferdom,  in  the  County  of  Hatework,”  says 
a printer’s  squib,  “ found  themselves  laboring 
under  great  inconvenience  for  want  of  an 
easily  traveled  road  between  Poverty  and  In- 


SELF-HELP 


117 

dependence.  They  therefore  petitioned  the 
Powers  that  be  to  levy  a tax  upon  the  prop- 
erty of  the  entire  county  for  the  purpose  of 
laying  out  a macadamized  highway,  broad  and 
smooth,  and  all  the  way  down  hill  to  the  lat- 
ter place.” 

“ Every  one  is  the  artificer  of  his  own  for- 
tune,” says  Sallust. 

Man  is  not  merely  the  architect  of  his  own 
fate,  but  he  must  lay  the  bricks  himself. 
Bayard  Taylor,  at  twenty-three,  wrote:  “I 
will  become  the  sculptor  of  my  own  mind’s 
statue.”  His  biography  shows  how  often  the 
chisel  and  hammer  were  in  his  hands  to  shape 
himself  into  his  ideal. 

Labor  is  the  only  legal  tender  in  the  world 
to  true  success.  The  gods  sell  everything  for 
that,  nothing  without  it.  You  will  never  find 
success  “marked  down.”  The  door  to  the 
temple  of  success  is  never  left  open.  Every 
one  who  enters  makes  his  own  door,  which 
closes  behind  him  to  all  others. 

Circumstances  have  rarely  favored  great 
men.  They  have  fought  their  way  to  triumph 
over  the  road  of  difficulty  and  through  all 
sorts  of  opposition.  A lowly  beginning  and 
a humble  origin  are  no  bar  to  a great  career. 
The  farmers’  boys  fill  many  of  the  greatest 


ii8  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


places  in  legislatures,  in  business,  at  the  bar, 
in  pulpits,  in  Congress,  to-day.  Boys  of  lowly 
origin  have  made  many  of  the  greatest  dis- 
coveries, are  presidents  of  our  banks,  of  our 
colleges,  of  our  universities.  Our  poor  boys 
and  girls  have  written  many  of  our  greatest 
books,  and  have  filled  the  highest  places  as 
teachers  and  journalists.  Ask  almost  any 
great  man  in  our  large  cities  where  he  was 
born,  and  he  will  tell  you  it  was  on  a farm  or 
in  a small  country  village.  Nearly  all  of  the 
great  capitalists  of  the  city  came  from  the 
country. 

Isaac  Rich,  the  founder  of  Boston  Univer- 
sity, left  Cape  Cod  for  Boston  to  make  his 
way  with  a capital  of  only  four  dollars.  Like 
Horace  Greeley,  he  could  find  no  opening  for 
a boy ; but  what  of  that  ? He  made  an  open- 
ing. He  found  a board,  and  made  it  into  an 
oyster  stand  on  the  street  corner.  He  bor- 
rowed a wheelbarrow,  and  went  three  miles 
to  an  oyster  smack,  bought  three  bushels  of 
oysters,  and  wheeled  them  to  his  stand.  Soon 
his  little  savings  amounted  to  $130,  and  then 
he  bought  a horse  and  cart. 

Self-help  has  accomplished  about  all  the 
great  things  of  the  world.  How  many  young 
men  falter,  faint,  and  dally  with  their  pur- 


SELF-HELP 


119 

pose  because  they  have  no  capital  to  start 
with,  and  wait  and  wait  for  some  good  luck 
to  give  them  a lift!  But  success  is  the  child 
of  drudgery  and  perseverance.  It  can  not  be 
coaxed  or  bribed ; pay  the  price  and  it  is 
yours.  Where  is  the  boy  to-day  who  has  less 
chance  to  rise  in  the  world  than  Elihu  Bur- 
ritt,  apprenticed  to  a blacksmith,  in  whose 
shop  he  had  to  work  at  the  forge  all  the  day- 
light, and  often  by  candle-light?  Yet,  he 
managed,  by  studying  with  a book  before 
him  at  his  meals,  carrying  it  in  his  pocket 
that  he  might  utilize  every  spare  moment, 
and  studying  at  night  and  holidays,  to  pick 
up  an  excellent  education  in  the  odds  and 
ends  of  time  which  most  boys  throw  away. 
While  the  rich  boy  and  the  idler  were  yawn- 
ing ' and  stretching  and  getting  their  eyes 
open,  young  Burritt  had  seized  the  opportu- 
nity and  improved  it.  At  thirty  years  of  age 
he  was  master  of  every  important  language 
in  Europe  and  was  studying  those  of  Asia. 
What  chance  had  such  a boy  for  distinc- 
tion? 

Probably  not  a single  youth  will  read 
this  book  who  has  not  a better  opportunity 
for  success.  Yet  he  had  a thirst  for  knowl- 
edge and  a desire  for  self-improvement, 


120  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


which  overcame  every  obstacle  in  his  path- 
way. 

If  the  youth  of  America  who  are  strug- 
gling against  cruel  circumstances  to  do  some- 
thing and  be  somebody  in  the  world  could 
only  understand  that  ninety  per  cent,  of  what 
is  Called  genius  is  merely  the  result  of  per- 
sistent, determined  industry,  in  most  cases  of 
downright  hard  work,  that  it  is  the  slavery  to 
a single  idea  which  has  given  to  many  a 
mediocre  talent  the  reputation  of  being  a 
genius,  they  would  be  inspired  with  new 
hope.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  men 
who  talk  most  about  genius  are  the  men  who 
like  to  work  the  least.  The  lazier  the  man, 
the  more  he  will  have  to  say  about  great 
things  being  done  by  genius. 

The  greatest  geniuses  have  been  the  great- 
est workers.  Sheridan  was  considered  a 
genius,  but  it  was  found  that  the  “ brilliants  ” 
and  “ off-hand  sayings  ” with  which  he  used 
to  dazzle  the  House  of  Commons  were  elab- 
orated, polished  and  repolished,  and  put  down 
in  his  memorandum  book  ready  for  any 
emergency. 

Genius  has  been  well  defined  as  the  infi- 
nite capacity  for  taking  pains.  If  men  who 
have  done  great  things  could  only  reveal  to 


SELF-HELP 


I2I 


the  struggling  youth  of  to-day  how  much  of 
their  reputations  was  due  to  downright  hard 
digging  and  plodding,  what  an  uplift  of  in- 
spiration and  encouragement  they  would 
give ! How  often  I have  wished  that  the 
discouraged,  struggling  youth  could  know  of 
the  heartaches,  the  headaches,  the  nerve- 
aches,  the  disheartening  trials,  the  discour- 
aged hours,  the  fears  and  despair  involved 
in  works  which  have  gained  the  admiration 
of  the  world,  but  which  have  taxed  the  ut- 
most powers  of  their  authors.  You  can  read 
in  a few  minutes  or  a few  hours  a poem  or 
a book  with  only  pleasure  and  delight,  but 
the  days  and  months  of  weary  plodding  over 
details  and  dreary  drudgery  often  required  to 
produce  it  would  stagger  belief. 

The  greatest  works  in  literature  have  been 
elaborated  and  elaborated,  line  by  line,  para- 
graph by  paragraph,  often  rewritten  a dozen 
times.  The  drudgery  which  literary  men 
have  put  into  the  productions  which  have 
stood  the  test  of  time  is  almost  incredible. 
Lucretius  worked  nearly  a lifetime  on  one 
poem.  It  completely  absorbed  his  life.  It 
is  said  that  Bryant  rewrote  “ Thanatopsis  ” 
a hundred  times,  and  even  then  was  not  sat- 
isfied with  it.  John  Foster  would  sometimes 


122  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


linger  a week  over  a single  sentence.  He 
would  hack,  split,  prune,  pull  up  by  the  roots, 
or  practise  any  other  severity  on  whatever 
he  wrote,  till  it  gained  his  consent  to  exist. 
Chalmers  was  once  asked  what  Foster  was 
about  in  London.  “ Hard  at  it,”  he  replied, 
“ at  the  rate  of  a line  a week.” 

Even  Lord  Bacon,  one  of  the  greatest 
geniuses  that  ever  lived,  at  his  death  left 
large  numbers  of  manuscripts  filled  wdth 
“ sudden  thoughts  set  down  for  use.”  Hume 
toiled  thirteen  hours  a day  on  his  “ History 
of  England.”  Lord  Eldon  astonished  the 
world  with  his  great  legal  learning,  but  when 
he  was  a student  too  poor  to  bu}'  books,  he 
had  actually  borrowed  and  copied  many  hun- 
dreds of  pages  of  large  law  books.  Matthew 
Hale  for  years  studied  law  sixteen  hours  a 
day.  Speaking  of  Fox,  some  one  declared 
that  he  wrote  “ drop  by  drop.”  Rousseau 
says  of  the  labor  involved  in  his  smooth  and 
lively  style : “ My  manuscripts,  blotted, 

scratched,  interlined,  and  scarcely  legible, 
attest  the  trouble  they  cost  me.  There  is 
not  one  of  them  which  I have  not  been 
obliged  to  transcribe  four  or  five  times  be- 
fore it  went  to  press.  . . . Some  of  my  pe- 
riods I have  turned  or  returned  in  my  head 


SELF-HELP 


123 


for  five  or  six  nights  before  they  were  fit  to 
be  put  to  paper.” 

Beethoven  probably  surpassed  all  other 
musicians  in  his  painstaking  fidelity  and  per- 
sistent application.  There  is  scarcely  a bar 
in  his  music  that  was  not  written  and  re- 
written at  least  a dozen  times.  His  favorite 
maxim  was,  “ The  barriers  are  not  yet 
erected  which  can  say  to  aspiring  talent  and 
industry  ‘ thus  far  and  no  further.’  ” Gib- 
bon wrote  his  autobiography  nine  times,  and 
was  in  his  study  every  morning,  summer  and 
winter,  at  six  o’clock;  and  yet  youth  who 
waste  their  evenings  wonder  at  the  genius 
which  can  produce  “ The  Decline  and  Fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire,”  upon  which  Gibbon 
worked  twenty  years.  Even  Plato,  one  of 
the  greatest  writers  that  ever  lived,  wrote 
the  first  sentence  in  his  “ Republic  ” nine 
different  ways  before  he  was  satisfied  with 
it.  Burke  wrote  the  conclusion  of  his  speech 
at  the  trial  of  Hastings  sixteen  times,  and 
Butler  his  famous  “ Analogy  ” twenty 
times.  It  took  Vergil  seven  years  to  write 
his  Georgies,  and  twelve  years  to  write  the 
vEneid.  He  was  so  displeased  with  the  latter 
that  he  attempted  to  rise  from  his  deathbed 
to  commit  it  to  the  flames. 


124  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Haydn  was  very  poor;  his  father  was  a 
coachman  and  he,  friendless  and  lonely,  mar- 
ried a servant  girl.  He  was  sent  away  from 
home  to  act  as  errand  boy  for  a music 
teacher.  He  absorbed  a great  deal  of  infor- 
mation, but  he  had  a hard  life  of  persecution 
until  he  became  a barber  in  Vienna.  Here 
he  blacked  boots  for  an  influential  man,  who 
became  a friend  to  him.  In  1798  this  poor 
boy’s  oratorio,  “ The  Creation,”  came  upon 
the  musical  world  like  the  rising  of  a new 
sun  which  never  set.  He  was  courted  by 
princes  and  dined  with  kings  and  queens ; 
his  reputation  was  made ; there  was  no  more 
barbering,  no  more  poverty.  But  of  his 
eight  hundred  compositions,  “ The  Creation  ” 
eclipsed  them  all.  He  died  while  Napoleon’s 
guns  were  bombarding  Vienna,  some  of  the 
shot  falling  in  his  garden. 

When  a man  like  Lord  Cavanagh,  without 
arms  or  legs,  manages  to  put  himself  into 
Parliament,  when  a man  like  Francis  Joseph 
Campbell,  a blind  man,  becomes  a distin- 
guished mathematician,  a musician,  and  a 
great  philanthropist,  we  get  a hint  as  to  what 
it  means  to  make  the  most  possible  out  of 
ourselves  and  our  opportunities.  Perhaps 
ninety-nine  of  a hundred  under  such  unfortu- 


SELF-HELP 


125 


nate  circumstances  would  be  content  to  re- 
main helpless  objects  of  charity  for  life.  If 
it  is  your  call  to  acquire  money  power  in- 
stead of  brain  power,  to  acquire  business 
power  instead  of  professional  power,  double 
your  talent  just  the  same,  no  matter  what 
it  may  be. 

A glover’s  apprentice  of  Glasgow,  Scot- 
land, who  was  too  poor  to  afford  even  a 
candle  or  a fire,  and  who  studied  by  the  light 
of  the  shop  windows  in  the  streets,  and  when 
the  shops  were  closed  climbed  the  lamp-post, 
holding  his  book  in  one  hand,  and  clinging 
to  the  lamp-post  with  the  other, — this  poor 
boy,  with  less  chance  than  almost  any  boy  in 
America,  became  the  most  eminent  scholar 
of  Scotland. 

Francis  Parkman,  half  blind,  became  one 
of  America’s  greatest  historians  in  spite  of 
everything,  because  he  made  himself  such. 
Personal  value  is  a coin  of  one’s  own  mint- 
ing; one  is  taken  at  the  worth  he  has  put 
into  himself.  Franklin  was  but  a poor  print- 
er’s boy,  whose  highest  luxury  at  one  time 
was  only  a penny  roll,  eaten  in  the  streets 
of  Philadelphia. 

Michael  Faraday  was  a poor  boy,  son  of  a 
blacksmith,  who  apprenticed  him  at  the  age 


126  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


of  thirteen  to  a bookbinder  in  London. 
Michael  laid  the  foundations  of  his  future 
greatness  by  making  himself  familiar  with 
the  contents  of  the  books  he  bound.  He  re- 
mained at  night,  after  others  had  gone,  to 
read  and  study  the  precious  volumes.  Lord 
Tenterden  was  proud  to  point  out  to  his  son 
the  shop  where  he  had  shaved  for  a penny. 
A French  doctor  once  taunted  Flechier, 
Bishop  of  Nismes,  who  had  been  a tallow- 
chandler  in  his  youth,  with  the  meanness  of 
his  origin,  to  which  he  replied,  “If  you  had 
been  born  in  the  same  condition  that  I was, 
you  would  still  have  been  but  a maker  of 
candles.” 

Edwin  Chadwick,  in  his  report  to  the  Brit- 
ish Parliament,  stated  that  children,  working 
on  half  time  (that  is,  studying  three  hours 
a day  and  working  the  rest  of  their  time  out 
of  doors),  really  made  the  greatest  intellec- 
tual progress  during  the  year.  Business  men 
have  often  accomplished  wonders  during  the 
busiest  lives  by  simply  devoting  one,  two, 
three,  or  four  hours  daily  to  study  or  other 
literary  work. 

James  Watt  received  only  the  rudiments 
of  an  education  at  school,  for  his  attendance 
was  irregular  on  account  of  delicate  health. 


SELF-HELP 


127 


He  more  than  made  up  for  all  deficiencies, 
however,  by  the  diligence  with  which  he  pur- 
sued his  studies  at  home.  Alexander  V.  was 
a beggar ; he  was  “ born  mud,  and  died 
marble.”  William  Herschel,  placed  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  as  a musician  in  the  band 
of  the  Hanoverian  Guards,  devoted  all  his 
leisure  to  philosophical  studies.  He  acquired 
a large  fund  of  general  knowledge,  and  in 
astronomy,  a science  in  which  he  was  wholly 
self-instructed,  his  discoveries  entitle  him  to 
rank  with  the  greatest  astronomers  of  all 
time. 

George  Washington  was  the  son  of  a 
widow,  born  under  the  roof  of  a Westmore- 
land farmer ; almost  from  infancy  his  lot  had 
been  that  of  an  orphan.  No  academy  had 
welcomed  him  to  its  shade,  no  college 
crowned  him  with  its  honors ; to  read,  to 
write,  to  cipher — these  had  been  his  degrees 
in  knowledge.  Shakespeare  learned  little 
more  than  reading  and  writing  at  school,  but 
by  self-culture  he  made  himself  the  great 
master  among  literary  men.  Burns,  too,  en- 
joyed few  advantages  of  education,  and  his 
youth  was  passed  in  almost  abject  poverty. 

James  Ferguson,  the  son  of  a half-starved 
peasant,  learned  to  read  by  listening  to  the 


128  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


recitations  of  one  of  his  elder  brothers. 
While  a mere  boy  he  discovered  several  me- 
chanical principles,  made  models  of  mills  and 
spinning-wheels,  and  by  means  of  beads  on 
strings  worked  out  an  excellent  map  of  the 
heavens.  Ferguson  made  remarkable  things 
with  a common  penknife.  How  many  great 
men  have  mounted  the  hill  of  knowledge  by 
out-of-the-way  paths ! Gifford  worked  his  in- 
tricate problems  with  a shoemaker’s  awl  on 
a bit  of  leather.  Rittenhouse  first  calculated 
eclipses  on  his  plow-handle. 

Columbus,  while  leading  the  life  of  a 
sailor,  managed  to  become  the  most  accom- 
plished geographer  and  astronomer  of  his 
time. 

When  Peter  the  Great,  a boy  of  seventeen, 
became  the  absolute  ruler  of  Russia  his  sub- 
jects were  little  better  than  savages,  and  in 
himself  even  the  passions  and  propensities  of 
barbarism  were  so  strong  that  they  were  fre- 
quently exhibited  during  his  whole  career. 
But  he  determined  to  transform  himself  and 
the  Russians  into  cmlized  people.  He  insti- 
tuted reforms  with  great  energ}',  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty-six  started  on  a visit  to  the 
other  countries  of  Europe  for  the  purpose 
of  learning  about  their  arts  and  institutions. 


SELF-HELP 


129 


At  Saardam,  Holland,  he  was  so  impressed 
with  the  sights  of  the  great  East  India  dock- 
yard that  he  apprenticed  himself  to  a ship- 
builder, and  helped  to  build  the  St.  Peter, 
which  he  promptly  purchased.  Continuing 
his  travels,  after  he  had  learned  his  trade, 
he  worked  in  England  in  paper-mills,  saw- 
mills, rope-yards,  watchmakers’  shops,  and 
other  manufactories,  doing  the  work  and  re- 
ceiving the  treatment  of  a common  laborer. 

While  traveling,  his  constant  habit  was  to 
obtain  as  much  information  as  he  could  be- 
forehand with  regard  to  every  place  he  was 
to  visit,  and  he  would  demand,  “ Let  me  see 
all.”  When  setting  out  on  his  investigations, 
on  such  occasions,  he  carried  his  tablets  in 
his  hand  and  whatever  he  deemed  worthy  of 
remembrance  was  carefully  noted  down.  He 
would  often  leave  his  carriage  if  he  saw  the 
country  people  at  work  by  the  wayside  as  he 
passed  along,  and  not  only  enter  into  conver- 
sation with  them  on  agricultural  affairs,  but 
also  accompany  them  to  their  homes,  examine 
their  furniture,  and  take  drawings  of  their 
implements  of  husbandry.  Thus  he  obtained 
much  minute  and  correct  knowledge,  which 
he  would  scarcely  have  acquired  by  other 
means,  and  which  he  afterward  turned  to  ad- 


130  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


mirable  account  in  the  improvement  of  his 
own  country. 

The  ancients  said,  “ Know  thyself  ” ; the 
twentieth  century  says,  “ Help  thyself.” 
Self-culture  gives  a second  birth  to  the  soul. 
A liberal  education  is  a true  regeneration. 
When  a man  is  once  liberally  educated,  he 
will  generally  remain  a man,  not  shrink  to 
a manikin,  nor  dwindle  to  a brute.  But  if 
he  is  not  properly  educated,  if  he  has  merely 
been  crammed  and  stuffed  through  college, 
if  he  has  merely  a broken-down  memory 
from  trying  to  hold  crammed  facts  enough 
to  pass  the  examination,  he  will  continue  to 
shrink,  shrivel,  and  dwindle,  often  below  his 
original  proportions,  for  he  will  lose  both  his 
confidence  and  self-respect,  as  his  crammed 
facts,  which  never  became  a part  of  himself, 
evaporate  from  his  distended  memory. 

Every  bit  of  education  or  culture  is  of 
great  advantage  in  the  struggle  for  exist- 


\ 


ence.  The  microscope  does  not  create  any- 
thing new,  but  it  reveals  marvels.  To  edu- 
cate the  eye  adds  to  its  magnifying  power 
until  it  sees  beauty  where  before  it  saw  only 
ugliness.  It  reveals  a world  we  never  sus- 
pected, and  finds  the  greatest  beauty  even  in 
the  commonest  things.  The  eye  of  an  Agas- 


SELF-HELP 


131 

siz  could  see  worlds  of  which  the  unedu- 
cated eye  never  dreamed.  The  cultured  hand 
can  do  a thousand  things  the  uneducated 
hand  can  not  do.  It  becomes  graceful,  steady 
of  nerve,  strong,  skilful,  indeed  it  almost 
seems  to  think,  so  animated  is  it  with  intel- 
ligence. The  cultured  will  can  seize,  grasp, 
and  hold  the  possessor,  with  irresistible 
power  and  nerve,  to  almost  superhuman  ef- 
fort. The  educated  touch  can  almost  per- 
form miracles.  The  educated  taste  can 
achieve  wonders  almost  past  belief.  What  a 
contrast  between  the  cultured,  logical,  pro- 
found, masterly  reason  of  a Gladstone  and 
that  of  the  hod-carrier  who  has  never  devel- 
oped or  educated  his  reason  beyond  what  is 
necessary  to  enable  him  to  mix  mortar  and 
carry  brick! 

Be  careful  to  avoid  that  over-intellectual 
culture  which  is  purchased  at  the  expense 
of  moral  vigor.  An  observant  professor  of 
one  of  our  colleges  has  remarked  that  “ the 
mind  may  be  so  rounded  and  polished  by 
education,  and  so  well  balanced,  as  not  to  be 
energetic  in  any  one  faculty.  In  other  men  not 
thus  trained,  the  sense  of  deficiency  and  of 
the  sharp,  jagged  corners  of  their  knowledge 
leads  to  efforts  to  fill  up  the  chasms,  render- 


132  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


ing  them  at  last  far  better  educated  men  than 
the  polished,  easy-going  graduate  who  has 
just  knowledge  enough  to  prevent  conscious- 
ness of  his  ignorance.  While  all  the  facul- 
ties of  the  mind  should  be  cultivated,  it  is  yet 
desirable  that  it  should  have  two  or  three 
rough-hewn  features  of  massive  strength. 
Young  men  are  too  apt  to  forget  the  great 
end  of  life,  which  is  to  be  and  do,  not  to 
read  and  brood  over  what  other  men  have 
been  and  done.” 

“I  repeat  that  my  object  is  not  to  give 
him  knowledge,  but  to  teach  him  how  to  ac- 
quire it  at  need,”  said  Rousseau. 

All  learning  is  self-teaching.  It  is  upon 
the  working  of  the  pupil’s  own  mind  that  his 
progress  in  knowledge  depends.  The  great 
business  of  the  master  is  to  teach  the  pupil 
to  teach  himself. 

“ Thinking,  not  growth,  makes  manhood,” 
says  Isaac  Taylor.  “ Accustom  yourself, 
therefore,  to  thinking.  Set  yourself  to  un- 
derstand whatever  you  see  or  read.  To  join 
thinking  with  reading  is  one  of  the  first 
maxims,  and  one  of  the  easiest  operations.” 

“How  few  think  justly  of  the  thinking  few: 

How  many  never  think  who  think  they  do.  ” 


VII.  WORK  AND  WAIT 


What  we  do  upon  some  great  occasion  will  prob- 
ably depend  on  what  we  already  are;  and  what  we 
are  will  be  the  result  of  previous  years  of  self- 
discipline. — H.  P.  Liddon. 

I consider  a human  soul  without  education  like 
marble  in  a quarry,  which  shows  none  of  its  inher- 
ent beauties  until  the  skill  of  the  polisher  sketches 
out  the  colors,  makes  the  surface  shine,  and  dis- 
covers every  ornamental  cloud,  spot,  and  vein  that 
runs  throughout  the  body  of  it. — Addison. 

Use  your  gifts  faithfully,  and  they  shall  be  en- 
larged; practise  what  you  know,  and  you  shall  at- 
tain to  higher  knowledge. — Arnold. 

Haste  trips  up  its  own  heels,  fetters  and  stops 
itself. — Seneca. 

The  more  you  know,  the  more  you  can  save  your- 
self and  that  which  belongs  to  you,  and  do  more 
work  with  less  effort. — Charles  Kingsley. 

WAS  a mere  cipher  in  that 
vast  sea  of  human  enter- 
prise,” said  Henry  Besse- 
mer, speaking  of  his  arrival 
in  London  in  1831.  Al- 
though but  eighteen  years 
old,  and  without  an  acquaintance  in  the  city, 
he  soon  made  work  for  himself  by  inventing 
a process  of  copying  bas-reliefs  on  card- 
board. His  method  was  so  simple  that 
133 


one 


134  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


could  learn  in  ten  minutes  how  to  make  a die 
from  an  embossed  stamp  for  a penny.  Hav- 
ing ascertained  later  that  in  this  way  the 
raised  stamps  on  all  official  papers  in  Eng- 
land could  easily  be  forged,  he  set  to  work 
and  invented  a perforated  stamp  which  could 
not  be  forged  nor  removed  from  a document. 
At  the  public  stamp  office  he  was  told  by  the 
chief  that  the  government  was  losing  £100,000 
a year  through  the  custom  of  removing 
stamps  from  old  parchments  and  using  them 
again. 

The  chief  also  fully  appreciated  the  new 
danger  of  easy  counterfeiting.  So  he  offered 
Bessemer  a definite  sum  for  his  process  of 
perforation,  or  an  office  for  life  at  eight  hun- 
dred pounds  a year.  Bessemer  chose  the 
office,  and  hastened  to  tell  the  good  news  to 
a young  woman  with  whom  he  had  agreed 
to  share  his  fortune.  In  explaining  his  in- 
vention, he  told  how  it  would  prevent  any 
one  from  taking  a valuable  stamp  from  a 
document  a hundred  years  old  and  using  it  a 
second  time. 

“ Yes,”  said  his  betrothed,  “ I understand 
that ; but,  surely,  if  all  stamps  had  a date  put 
upon  them  they  could  not  at  a future  time 
be  used  without  detection.” 


WORK  AND  WAIT 


135 


This  was  a very  short  speech,  and  of  no 
special  importance  if  we  omit  a single  word 
of  four  letters ; but,  like  the  schoolboy’s  pins 
which  saved  the  lives  of  thousands  of  people 
annually  by  not  getting  swallowed,  that  little 
word,  by  keeping  out  of  the  ponderous  minds 
of  the  British  revenue  officers,  had  for  a long 
period  saved  the  government  the  burden  of 
caring  for  an  additional  income  of  £100,000 
a year.  And  the  same  little  word,  if  pub- 
lished in  its  connection,  would  render  Bes- 
semer’s perforation  device  of  far  less  value 
than  a last  year’s  bird’s  nest.  He  felt  proud 
of  the  young  woman’s  ingenuity,  and  promptly 
suggested  the  improvement  at  the  stamp  of- 
fice. 

As  a result  his  system  of  perforation 
was-  abandoned  and  he  was  deprived  of  his 
promised  office,  the  government  coolly  mak- 
ing use  from  that  day  to  this,  without  com- 
pensation, of  the  idea  conveyed  by  that  little 
insignificant  word. 

So  Bessemer’s  financial  prospects  were  not 
very  encouraging ; but,  realizing  that  the  best 
capital  a young  man  can  have  is  a capital 
wife,  he  at  once  entered  into  a partnership 
which  placed  at  his  command  the  combined 
ideas  of  two  very  level  heads.  The  result. 


136  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


after  years  of  thought  and  experiment,  was 
the  Bessemer  process  of  making  steel  cheaply, 
which  has  revolutionized  the  iron  industry 
throughout  the  world.  His  method  consists 
simply  in  forcing  hot  air  from  below  into  sev- 
eral tons  of  melted  pig-iron,  so  as  to  produce 
intense  combustion ; and  then  adding  enough 
spiegel-eisen  (looking-glass  iron),  an  ore 
rich  in  carbon,  to  change  the  whole  mass  to 
steel. 

He  discovered  this  simple  process  only 
after  trying  in  vain  much  more  difficult  and 
expensive  methods. 

“ All  things  come  round  to  him  who  will  but  wait” 

The  great  lack  of  the  age  is  want  of  thor- 
oughness. How  seldom  you  find  a young 
man  or  woman  who  is  willing  to  take  time  to 
prepare  for  his  life  work!  A little  education 
is  all  they  want,  a little  smattering  of  books, 
and  then  they  are  ready  for  business. 

“ Can’t  wait  ” is  characteristic  of  the  cen- 
tury, and  is  written  on  everything ; on  com- 
merce, on  schools,  on  society,  on  churches. 
Can’t  wait  for  a high  school,  seminary,  or 
college.  The  boy  can’t  wait  to  become  a 
youth,  nor  the  youth  a man.  Youth  rush  into 


WORK  AND  WAIT 


137 


business  with  no  great  reserve  of  education  or 
drill ; of  course  they  do  poor,  feverish  work, 
and  break  down  in  middle  life,  and  many  die 
of  old  age  in  the  forties.  Everybody  is  in  a 
hurry.  Buildings  are  rushed  up  so  quickly 
that  they  will  not  stand,  and  everything  is 
made  “to  sell.” 

Not  long  ago  a professor  in  one  of  our 
universities  had  a letter  from  a young  woman 
in  the  West,  asking  him  if  he  did  not  think 
she  could  teach  elocution  if  she  could  come 
to  the  university  and  take  twelve  lessons. 
Our  young  people  of  to-day  are  not  willing 
to  lay  broad,  deep  foundations.  The  weary 
years  in  preparatory  school  and  college  dis- 
hearten them.  They  only  want  a “ smatter- 
ing ” of  an  education.  But  as  Pope  says, — 

A little  learning  is  a dangerous  thing; 

Drink  deep,  or  taste  not  the  Pierian  spring: 

There  shallow  draughts  intoxicate  the  brain, 

And  drinking  largely  sobers  us  again. 

The  shifts  to  cover  up  ignorance,  and  “ the 
constant  trembling  lest  some  blunder  should 
expose  one’s  emptiness,”  are  pitiable.  Short 
cuts  and  abridged  methods  are  the  demand 
of  the  hour.  But  the  way  to  shorten  the  road 
to  success  is  to  take  plenty  of  time  to  lay  in 


138  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


your  reserve  power.  Hard  work,  a definite 
aim,  and  faithfulness  will  shorten  the  way. 
Don’t  risk  a life’s  superstructure  upon  a day’s 
foundation. 

Patience  is  Nature’s  motto.  She  works  ages 
to  bring  a flower  to  perfection.  What  will 
she  not  do  for  the  greatest  of  her  creation? 
Ages  and  aeons  are  nothing  to  her;  out  of 
them  she  has  been  carving  her  great  statue, 
a perfect  man. 

Johnson  said  a man  must  turn  over  half  a 
library  to  write  one  book.  When  an  au- 
thoress told  Wordsworth  she  had  spent  six 
hours  on  a poem,  he  replied  that  he  would 
have  spent  six  weeks.  Think  of  Bishop  Hall 
spending  thirty  years  on  one  of  his  works! 
Owens  was  working  on  the  “ Commentary  to 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  ” for  twenty  years. 
Moore  spent  several  weeks  on  one  of  his  mu- 
sical stanzas  which  reads  as  if  it  were  a dash 
of  genius. 

Carlyle  wrote  with  the  utmost  difficult}’  and 
never  executed  a page  of  his  great  histories 
till  he  had  consulted  every  known  authority, 
so  that  every  sentence  is  the  quintessence  of 
many  books,  the  product  of  many  hours  of 
drudging  research  in  the  great  libraries.  To- 
day, “ Sartor  Resartus  ” is  everywhere.  You 


WORK  AND  WAIT 


139 


can  get  it  for  a mere  trifle  at  almost  any  book- 
seller’s, and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  copies 
are  scattered  over  the  world.  But  when  Car- 
lyle brought  it  to  London  in  1851,  it  was  re- 
fused almost  contemptuously  by  three  promi- 
nent publishers.  At  length  he  managed  to 
get  it  into  “ Fraser’s  Magazine,”  the  editor  of 
which  conveyed  to  the  author  the  pleasing  in- 
formation that  his  work  had  been  received 
with  “ unqualified  disapprobation.” 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  sent  half  a dozen  ar- 
ticles to  the  publisher  of  a religious  paper  to 
pay  for  his  subscription,  but  they  were  re- 
spectfully declined.  The  publishers  of  the 
“ Atlantic  Monthly  ” returned  Miss  Alcott’s 
manuscript,  suggesting  that  she  had  better 
stick  to  teaching.  One  of  the  leading  maga- 
zines ridiculed  Tennyson’s  first  poems,  and 
consigned  the  young  poet  to  temporary  ob- 
livion. Only  one  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson’s 
books  had  a remunerative  sale.  Washington 
Irving  was  nearly  seventy  years  old  before 
the  income  from  his  books  paid  the  expenses 
of  his  household. 

In  some  respects  it  is  very  unfortunate  that 
the  old  system  of  binding  boys  out  to  a trade 
has  been  abandoned.  To-day  very  few  boys 
learn  any  trade.  They  pick  up  what  they 


140  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


know,  as  they  go  along,  just  as  a student 
crams  for  a particular  examination,  just  to 
“ get  through,”  without  any  effort  to  see  how 
much  he  may  learn  on  any  subject. 

Think  of  an  American  youth  spending  ten 
years  with  Da  Vinci  on  the  model  of  an  eques- 
trian statue  that  he  might  master  the  anatomy 
of  the  horse ! Most  young  American  artists 
would  expect,  in  a quarter  of  that  time,  to 
sculpture  an  Apollo  Belvidere. 

A rich  man  asked  Howard  Burnett  to  do  a 
little  something  for  his  album.  Burnett  com- 
plied and  charged  a thousand  francs.  “ But 
it  took  you  only  five  minutes,”  objected  the 
rich  man.  “ Yes,  but  it  took  me  thirty  years 
to  learn  how  to  do  it  in  five  minutes.” 

What  the  age  wants  is  men  who  have  the 
nerve  and  the  grit  to  work  and  wait,  whether 
the  world  applaud  or  hiss ; a Mirabeau,  who 
can  struggle  on  for  forty  years  before  he 
has  a chance  to  show  the  world  his  vast  re- 
serve, destined  to  shake  an  empire ; a Far- 
ragut,  a ^"^on  Moltke,  who  have  the  persist- 
ence to  work  and  wait  for  half  a century  for 
their  first  great  opportunities ; a Grant,  fight- 
ing on  in  heroic  silence,  when  denounced  by 
his  brother  generals  and  politicians  every- 
where; a Michael  Angelo,  working  seven 


WORK  AND  WAIT  141 

long  years  decorating  the  Sistine  Chapel  with 
his  matchless  “ Creation  ” and  the  “ Last 
Judgment,”  refusing  all  remuneration  there- 
for, lest  his  pencil  might  catch  the  taint  of 
avarice;  a Thurlow  Weed,  walking  two  miles 
through  the  snow  with  rags  tied  around  his 
feet  for  shoes,  to  borrow  the  history  of  the 
French  Revolution,  and  eagerly  devouring  it 
before  the  sap-bush  fire;  a Milton,  elaborat- 
ing “ Paradise  Lost  ” in  a world  he  could  not 
see;  a Thackeray,  struggling  on  cheerfully 
after  his  “ Vanity  Fair  ” was  refused  by  a 
dozen  publishers ; a Balzac,  toiling  and  wait- 
ing in  a lonely  garret;  men  whom  neither 
poverty,  debt,  nor  hunger  could  discourage  or 
intimidate ; not  daunted  by  privations,  not 
hindered  by  discouragements.  It  wants  men 
who  can  work  and  wait. 

When  a young  lawyer  Daniel  Webster  once 
looked  in  vain  through  all  the  law  libraries 
near  him,  and  then  ordered  at  an  expense  of 
fifty  dollars  the  necessary  books,  to  obtain 
authorities  and  precedents  in  a case  in  which 
his  client  was  a poor  blacksmith.  He  won  his 
case,  but,  on  account  of  the  poverty  of  his 
client,  only  charged  fifteen  dollars,  thus  los- 
ing heavily  on  the  books  bought,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  his  time.  Years  after,  as  he  was  pass- 


142  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


ing  through  New  York  City,  he  was  con- 
sulted by  Aaron  Burr  on  an  important  but 
puzzling  case  then  pending  before  the  Su- 
preme Court.  He  saw  in  a moment  that  it 
was  just  like  the  blacksmith’s  case,  an  intri- 
cate question  of  title,  which  he  had  solved  so 
thoroughly  that  it  was  to  him  now  as  simple 
as  the  multiplication  table.  Going  back  to  the 
time  of  Charles  H.  he  gave  the  law  and  prec- 
edents involved  with  such  readiness  and  ac- 
curacy of  sequence  that  Burr  asked  in  great 
surprise  if  he  had  been  consulted  before  in 
the  case.  “ Most  certainly  not,”  he  replied, 
“ I never  heard  of  your  case  till  this  even- 
ing.” “ Very  well,”  said  Burr,  “ proceed  ” ; 
and,  when  he  had  finished,  Webster  received 
a fee  that  paid  him  liberally  for  all  the  time 
and  trouble  he  had  spent  for  his  early  client. 

Albert  Bierstadt  first  crossed  the  Rocky 
Mountains  with  a band  of  pioneers  in  1859, 
making  sketches  for  the  paintings  of  Western 
scenes  for  which  he  had  become  famous.  As 
he  followed  the  trail  to  Pike’s  Peak,  he  gazed 
in  wonder  upon  the  enormous  herds  of  buf- 
faloes which  dotted  the  plains  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  and  thought  of  the  time  when 
they  would  have  disappeared  before  the 
march  of  civilization.  The  thought  haunted 


WORK  AND  WAIT 


143 


him  and  found  its  final  emhodiment  in  “ The 
Last  of  the  Buffaloes”  in  1890.  To  perfect 
this  great  work  he  had  spent  twenty  years. 

Everything  which  endures,  which  will 
stand  the  test  of  time,  must  have  a deep, 
solid  foundation.  In  Rome  the  foundation  is 
often  the  most  expensive  part  of  an  edifice, 
so  deep  must  they  dig  to  build  on  the  living 
rock. 

Fifty  feet  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument  is 
under  ground;  unseen  and  unappreciated  by 
those  who  tread  about  that  historic  shaft,  but 
it  is  this  foundation,  apparently  thrown  away, 
which  enables  it  to  stand  upright,  true  to  the 
plumb-line  through  all  the  tempests  that  lash 
its  granite  sides.  A large  part  of  every  suc- 
cessful life  must  be  spent  in  laying  foun- 
dation stones  underground.  Success  is  the 
child  of  drudgery  and  perseverance  and  de- 
pends upon  “ knowing  how  long  it  takes  to 
succeed.” 

Endurance  is  a much  better  test  of  charac- 
ter than  any  one  act  of  heroism,  however 
noble. 

The  pianist  Thalberg  said  he  never  ven- 
tured to  perform  one  of  his  celebrated  pieces 
in  public  until  he  had  played  it  at  least  fifteen 
hundred  times.  He  laid  no  claim  whatever 


144  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


to  genius ; he  said  it  was  all  a question  of 
hard  work.  The  accomplishments  of  such 
industry,  such  perseverance,  would  put  to 
shame  many  a man  who  claims  genius. 

Before  Edmund  Kean  would  consent  to 
appear  in  that  character  which  he  acted  with 
such  consummate  skill.  The  Gentleman  Vil- 
lain, he  practised  constantly  before  a glass, 
studying  expression  for  a year  and  a half. 
When  he  appeared  upon  the  stage,  Byron, 
who  went  with  Moore  to  see  him,  said  he 
never  looked  upon  so  fearful  and  wicked  a 
face.  As  the  great  actor  went  on  to  deline- 
ate the  terrible  consequences  of  sin,  Byron 
fainted. 

“ For  years  I was  in  my  place  of  business 
by  sunrise,”  said  a wealthy  banker  who  had 
begun  without  a dollar ; “ and  often  I did  not 
leave  it  for  fifteen  or  eighteen  hours.” 

Patience,  it  is  said,  changes  the  mulberry 
leaf  to  satin.  The  giant  oak  on  the  hillside 
was  detained  months  or  )^ears  in  its  up- 
ward growth  while  its  root  took  a great 
turn  around  some  rock,  in  order  to  gain  a 
hold  by  which  the  tree  was  anchored  to  with- 
stand the  storms  of  centuries.  Da  Vinci 
spent  four  years  on  the  head  of  Mona  Lisa, 
perhaps  the  most  beautiful  ever  painted,  but 


WORK  AND  WAIT 


145 

he  left  therein  an  artistic  thought  for  all 
time. 

Said  Captain  Bingham : “ You  can  have 

no  idea  of  the  wonderful  machine  that  the 
German  army  is  and  how  well  it  is  prepared 
for  war.  A chart  is  made  out  which  shows 
just  what  must  be  done  in  the  case  of  wars 
with  the  different  nations,  and  every  officer’s 
place  in  the  scheme  is  laid  out  beforehand. 
There  is  a schedule  of  trains  which  will  su- 
persede all  other  schedules  the  moment  war 
is  declared,  and  this  is  so  arranged  that  the 
commander  of  the  army  here  could  telegraph 
to  any  officer  to  take  such  a train  and  go  to 
such  a place  at  a moment’s  notice.” 

A learned  clergyman  was  thus  accosted  by 
an  illiterate  preacher  who  despised  education : 
“ Sir,  you  have  been  to  college,  I presume  ? ” 
“ Yes,  sir,”  was  the  reply.  “ I am  thankful,” 
said  the  former,  “ that  the  Lord  opened  my 
mouth  without  any  learning.”  “ A similar 
event,”  retorted  the  clergyman,  “ happened  in 
Balaam’s  time.” 

A young  man  just  graduated  told  the  Pres- 
ident of  Trinity  College  that  he  had  com- 
pleted his  education,  and  had  come  to  say 
good-by.  “ Indeed,”  said  the  President,  “ I 
have  just  begun  my  education.” 


146  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Many  an  extraordinary  man  has  been  made 
out  of  a very  ordinary  boy ; but  in  order  to 
accomplish  this  we  must  begin  with  him  while 
he  is  young.  It  is  simply  astonishing  what 
training  will  do  for  a rough,  uncouth,  and 
even  dull  lad,  if  he  has  good  material  in  him, 
and  comes  under  the  tutelage  of  a skilled  ed- 
ucator before  his  habits  become  fixed  or  con- 
firmed. 

Even  a few  weeks’  or  months’  drill  of  the 
rawest  and  roughest  recruits  in  the  late  Civil 
War  so  straightened  and  dignified  stooping 
and  uncouth  soldiers,  and  made  them  manly, 
erect,  and  courteous  in  their  bearing,  that 
their  own  friends  scarcely  knew  them.  If 
this  change  is  so  marked  in  the  youth  who 
has  grown  to  maturity,  what  a miracle  is 
possible  in  the  lad  who  is  taken  early  and 
put  under  a course  of  drill  and  systematic 
training,  both  physical,  mental,  and  moral ! 
How  often  a man  who  is  in  the  peniten- 
tiary, in  the  poorhouse,  or  among  the  tramps, 
or  living  out  a miserable  existence  in  the 
slums  of  our  cities,  rough,  slovenly,  has 
slumbering  within  the  rags  possibilities  which 
would  have  developed  him  into  a magnificent 
man,  an  ornament  to  the  human  race  instead 
of  a foul  blot  and  ugly  scar,  had  he  only  been 


WORK  AND  WAIT 


147 


fortunate  enough  early  in  life  to  have  en- 
joyed the  benefits  of  efficient  and  systematic 
training ! 

Laziness  begins  in  cobwebs  and  ends  in 
iron  chains. 

Edison  described  his  repeated  efforts  to 
make  the  phonograph  reproduce  an  aspirated 
sound,  and  added:  “ From  eighteen  to  twenty 
hours  a day  for  the  last  seven  months  I have 
worked  on  this  single  word  ‘ specia.’  I said 
into  the  phonograph  ‘ specia,  specia,  specia,’ 
but  the  instrument  responded  ‘pecia,  pecia, 
pecia.’  It  was  enough  tO'  drive  one  mad.  But 
I held  firm,  and  I have  succeeded.” 

The  road  to  distinction  must  be  paved  with 
years  of  self-denial  and  hard  work. 

Horace  Mann,  the  great  author  of  the  com- 
moii  school  system  of  Massachusetts,  was  a 
remarkable  example  of  that  pluck  and  pa- 
tience which  can  work  and  wait.  His  only  in- 
heritance was  poverty  and  hard  work.  But 
he  had  an  unquenchable  thirst  for  knowledge 
and  a determination  to  get  on  in  the  world. 
He  braided  straw  to  earn  money  to  buy  books 
for  which  his  soul  thirsted. 

Gladstone  was  bound  to  win.  Although  he 
had  spent  many  years  of  preparation  for  his 
life  work,  in  spite  of  the  consciousness  of  mar- 


148  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


velous  natural  endowments  which  would  have 
been  deemed  sufficient  by  many  young  men, 
and  notwithstanding  he  had  gained  the  cov- 
eted prize  of  a seat  in  Parliament,  yet  he  de- 
cided to  make  himself  master  of  the  situation; 
and  amid  all  his  public  and  private  duties, 
he  not  only  spent  eleven  terms  more  in  the 
study  of  the  law,  but  also  studied  Greek  con- 
stantly and  read  every  well-written  book  or 
paper  he  could  obtain,  so  determined  was  he 
that  his  life  should  be  rounded  out  to  its  full- 
est measure,  and  that  his  mind  should  have 
broad  and  liberal  culture. 

Ole  Bull  said : “ If  I practise  one  day,  I can 
see  the  result ; if  I practise  two  days,  my 
friends  can  see  it ; if  I practise  three  days,  the 
great  public  can  see  it.” 

The  habit  of  seizing  every  bit  of  knowl- 
edge, no  matter  how  insignificant  it  may 
seem  at  the  time,  every  opportunity,  every 
occasion,  and  grinding  them  all  up  into  ex- 
perience, can  not  be  overestimated.  You  will 
find  use  for  all  of  it.  Webster  once  repeated 
with  efifect  an  anecdote  which  he  had  heard 
fourteen  years  before,  and  which  he  had  not 
thought  of  in  the  meantime.  It  exactly  fitted 
the  occasion.  “ It  is  an  ill  mason  that  re- 
jects any  stone.” 


WORK  AND  WAIT 


149 


Webster  was  once  urged  to  speak  on  a sub- 
ject of  great  importance,  but  refused,  saying 
he  was  very  busy  and  had  no  time  to  master 
the  subject.  “ But,”  replied  his  friend,  “ a 
very  few  words  from  you  would  do  much 
to  awaken  public  attention  to  it.”  Webster 
replied,  “ If  there  be  so  much  weight  in  my 
words,  it  is  because  I do  not  allow  myself  to 
speak  on  any  subject  until  my  mind  is  imbued 
with  it.”  On  one  occasion  Webster  made  a 
remarkable  speech  before  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
Society  at  Harvard,  when  a book  was  pre- 
sented to  him ; but  after  he  had  gone,  his 
“ impromptu  ” speech,  carefully  written  out, 
was  found  in  the  book  which  he  had  forgot- 
ten to  take  away. 

Demosthenes  was  once  asked  to  speak  on  a 
great  and  sudden  emergency,  but  replied,  “ I 
am  not  prepared.”  In  fact,  it  was  thought 
by  many  that  Demosthenes  did  not  possess 
any  genius  whatever,  because  he  never  al- 
lowed himself  to  speak  on  any  subject  with- 
out thorough  preparation.  In  any  meeting 
or  assembly,  when  called  upon,  he  would 
never  rise,  even  to  make  remarks,  it  was  said, 
without  previously  preparing  himself. 

Alexander  Hamilton  said,  “ Men  give  me 
credit  for  genius.  All  the  genius  I have  lies 


150  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


just  in  this;  when  I have  a subject  in  hand 
I study  it  profoundly.  Day  and  night  it  is 
before  me.  I explore  it  in  all  its  bearings. 
My  mind  becomes  pervaded  with  it.  Then 
the  effort  which  I make  the  people  are  pleased 
to  call  the  fruit  of  genius ; it  is  the  fruit  of 
labor  and  thought.”  The  law  of  labor  is 
equally  binding  on  genius  and  mediocrity. 

Nelaton,  the  great  surgeon,  said  that  if  he 
had  four  minutes  in  which  to  perform  an  op- 
eration on  which  a life  depended,  he  would 
take  one  minute  to  consider  how  best  to  do 
it. 

“ Many  men,”  says  Longfellow,  “ do  not 
allow  their  principles  to  take  root,  but  pull 
them  up  every  now  and  then,  as  children  do 
flowers  they  have  planted,  to  see  if  they  are 
growing.”  We  must  not  only  work,  but  also 
wait. 

“ The  spruce  \X)ung  spark,”  says  Sizer, 
“ w'ho  thinks  chiefly  of  his  mustache  and 
boots  and  shiny  hat,  of  getting  along  nicely 
and  easily  during  the  day,  and  talking  about 
the  theater,  the  opera,  or  a fast  horse,  ridicul- 
ing the  faithful  young  fellow  who  came  to 
learn  the  business  and  make  a man  of  him- 
self because  he  will  not  join  in  wasting  his 
time  in  dissipation,  will  see  the  day,  if  his 


WORK  AND  WAIT 


151 

useless  life  is  not  earlier  blasted  by  vicious  in- 
dulgences, when  he  will  be  glad  to  accept  a 
situation  from  the  fellow-clerk  whom  he  now 
ridicules  and  affects  to  despise,  when  the  lat- 
ter shall  stand  in  the  firm,  dispensing  benefits 
and  acquiring  fortune.” 

“ I have  been  watching  the  careers  of  young 
men  by  the  thousand  in  this  busy  city  of  New 
York  for  over  thirty  years,”  said  Dr.  Cuyler, 
“ and  I find  that  the  chief  difference  between 
the  successful  and  the  failures  lies  in  the 
single  element  of  staying  power.  Permanent 
success  is  oftener  won  by  holding  on  than  by 
sudden  dash,  however  brilliant.  The  easily 
discouraged,  who  are  pushed  back  by  a straw, 
are  all  the  time  dropping  to  the  rear — to  per- 
ish or  to  be  carried  along  on  the  stretcher 
of  charity.  They  who  understand  and  prac- 
tise Abraham  Lincoln’s  homely  maxim  of 
‘ pegging  away  ’ have  achieved  the  solidest 
success.” 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  became  so  dis- 
couraged because  he  did  not  advance  in  the 
army  that  he  applied  for  a much  inferior  po- 
sition in  the  customs  department,  but  was 
refused.  Napoleon  had  applied  for  every  va- 
cant position  for  seven  years  before  he  was 
recognized,  but  meanwhile  he  studied  with 


152  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


all  his  might,  supplementing  what  was  con- 
sidered a thorough  military  education  by  re- 
searches and  reflections  which  in  later  years 
enabled  him  easily  to  teach  the  art  of  war 
to  veterans  who  had  never  dreamed  of  his 
novel  combinations. 

Reserves  which  carry  us  through  great 
emergencies  are  the  result  of  long  working 
and  long  waiting.  Dr.  Collyer  declares  that  re- 
serves mean  to  a man  also  achievement, — “ the 
power  to  do  the  grandest  thing  possible  to 
your  nature  when  you  feel  you  must,  or  some 
precious  thing  will  be  lost, — to  do  well  always, 
hut  best  in  the  crisis  on  which  all  things  turn ; 
to  stand  the  strain  of  a long  fight,  and  still 
find  you  have  something  left,  and  so  to  never 
know  you  are  beaten,  because  you  never  are 
beaten.” 

He  only  is  independent  in  action  who  has 
been  earnest  and  thorough  in  preparation  and 
self-culture.  “ Not  for  school,  but  for  life, 
we  learn  and  our  habits — of  promptness, 
earnestness,  and  thoroughness,  or  of  tardi- 
ness, fickleness,  and  superficiality — are  the 
things  acquired  most  readily  and  longest  re- 
tained. 

To  vary  the  language  of  another,  the  three 
great  essentials  to  success  in  mental  and  phys- 


WORK  AND  WAIT 


153 


ical  labor  are  Practise,  Patience,  and  Perse- 
verance, but  the  greatest  of  these  is  Perse- 
verance. 

“ Let  us,  then;  be  up  and  doing, 

With  a heart  for  any  fate; 

Still  achieving,  still  pursuing. 

Learn  to  labor  and  to  wait.” 


VIIL  CLEAR  GRIT 


Let  fortune  empty  her  whole  quiver  on  me, 

I have  a soul  that,  like  an  ample  shield. 

Can  take  in  all,  and  verge  enough  for  more. 

Dryden. 

There’s  a brave  fellow ! There’s  a man  of  pluck ! 
A man  who’s  not  afraid  to  say  his  say. 

Though  a whole  town’s  against  him. 

Longfellow. 

Our  greatest  glory  is  not  in  never  falling,  but  in 
rising  every  time  we  fall. — Goldsmith. 

The  barriers  are  not  yet  erected  which  shall  say 
to  aspiring  talent,  “ Thus  far  and  no  farther.” — 
Beethoven. 


RIENDS  and  comrades,” 
said  Pizarro,  as  he  turned  to- 
ward the  south,  after  tracing 
with  his  sword  upon  the 
sand  a line  from  east  to  west, 
“ on  that  side  are  toil,  hunger, 
nakedness,  the  drenching  storm,  desertion, 
and  death ; on  this  side,  ease  and  pleasure. 
There  lies  Peru  with  its  riches : here,  Panama 
and  its  poverty.  Choose,  each  man,  what 
best  becomes  a brave  Castilian.  For  my  part, 
I go  to  the  south.”  So  saying,  he  crossed 
the  line  and  was  followed  by  thirteen  Span- 
iards in  armor.  Thus,  on  the  little  island  of 


154 


CLEAR  GRIT 


155 


Gallo  in  the  Pacific,  when  his  men  were  clam- 
oring to  return  to  Panama,  did  Pizarro  and 
his  few  volunteers  resolve  to  stake  their  lives 
upon  the  success  of  a desperate  crusade 
against  the  powerful  empire  of  the  Incas.  At 
the  time  they  had  not  even  a vessel  to  trans- 
port them  to  the  country  they  wished  to  con- 
quer. Is  it  necessary  to  add  that  all  difficul- 
ties yielded  at  last  to  such  resolute  determi- 
nation ? 

“ Perseverance  is  a Roman  virtue, 

That  wins  each  godlike  act,  and  plucks  success 

E’en  from  the  spear-proof  crest  of  rugged 
danger.” 

“ When  you  get  into  a tight  place  and 
everything  goes  against  you,  till  it  seems  as 
if  you  could  not  hold  on  a minute  longer,” 
said  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  “ never  give  up 
then,  for  that’s  just  the  place  and  time  that 
the  tide’ll  turn.” 

Charles  Sumner  said  three  things  are 
necessary  to  a strong  character;  First,  back- 
bone ; second,  backbone ; third,  backbone.” 

While  digging  among  the  ruins  of  Pompeii, 
which  was  buried  by  the  dust  and  ashes  from 
an  eruption  of  Vesuvius  a.  d.  79,  the  work- 
men found  the  skeleton  of  a Roman  soldier 


156  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


in  the  sentry-box  at  one  of  the  city’s  gates. 
He  might  have  found  safety  under  sheltering 
rocks  close  by ; but,  in  the  face  of  certain 
death,  he  had  remained  at  his  post,  a mute 
witness  to  the  thorough  discipline,  the  cease- 
less vigilance  and  fidelity  which  made  the 
Roman  legionaries  masters  of  the  known 
world. 

The  world  admires  the  man  who  never 
flinches  from  unexpected  difficulties,  who 
calmly,  patiently,  and  courageously  grapples 
with  his  fate ; who  dies,  if  need  be,  at  his 
post. 

“ Clear  grit  ” always  commands  respect.  It 
is  that  quality  which  achieves,  and  everybody 
admires  achievement.  In  the  strife  of  parties 
and  principles,  backbone  without  brains  will 
carry  against  brains  without  backbone.  You 
can  not,  by  tying  an  opinion  to  a man’s 
tongue,  make  him  the  representative  of  that 
opinion ; at  the  close  of  any  battle  for  princi- 
ples, his  name  will  be  found  neither  among  the 
dead  nor  among  the  wounded,  but  among  the 
missing. 

The  “ London  Times  ” was  an  insignificant 
sheet  published  by  Mr.  Walter  and  was  stead- 
ily losing  money.  John  Walter,  Jr.,  then  only 
twenty-seven  years  old,  begged  his  father  to 


CLEAR  GRIT 


157 


give  him  full  control  of  the  paper.  After 
many  misgivings,  the  father  finally  consented. 
The  young  journalist  began  to  remodel  the 
establishment  and  to  introduce  new  ideas 
everywhere.  The  paper  had  not  attempted  to 
mold  public  opinion,  and  had  had  no  individu- 
ality or  character  of  its  own.  The  audacious 
young  editor  boldly  attacked  every  wrong, 
even  the  government,  whenever  he  thought 
it  corrupt.  Thereupon  the  public  customs, 
printing,  and  the  government  advertisements 
were  withdrawn.  The  father  was  in  utter 
dismay.  His  son,  he  was  sure,  would  ruin 
the  paper  and  himself.  But  no  remonstrance 
could  swerve  the  son  from  his  purpose  to 
give  the  world  a great  journal  which  should 
have  weight,  character,  individuality,  and  in- 
dependence. 

The  public  soon  saw  that  a new  power 
stood  behind  the  “ Times  ” ; that  its  articles 
meant  business ; that  new  life  and  new  blood 
and  new  ideas  had  been  infused  into  the  in- 
significant sheet;  that  a man  with  brains  and 
push  and  tenacity  of  purpose  stood  at  the 
helm, — a man  who  could  make  a way  when 
he  could  not  find  one.  Among  other  new 
features  foreign  dispatches  were  introduced, 
and  they  appeared  in  the  “ Times  ” several 


158  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


days  before  their  appearance  in  the  govern- 
ment organs.  The  “ leading  article  ” also 
was  introduced  to  stay.  The  aggressive  edi- 
tor antagonized  the  government,  and  his 
foreign  dispatches  were  all  stopped  at  the 
outposts,  while  the  ministerial  journalists 
were  allowed  to  proceed.  But  nothing  could 
daunt  this  resolute  young  spirit.  At  enor- 
mous expense  he  employed  special  couriers. 
Every  obstacle  put  in  his  way,  and  all  opposi- 
tion from  the  government,  only  added  to  his 
determination  to  succeed.  Enterprise,  push, 
grit  were  behind  the  “ Times,”  and  nothing 
could  stay  its  progress.  Young  Walter  was  the 
soul  of  the  paper,  and  his  personality  per- 
vaded every  detail.  In  those  days  only  three 
hundred  copies  of  the  paper  could  be 
struck  off  in  an  hour  by  the  best  presses, 
and  Walter  had  duplicate  and  even  triplicate 
types  set.  Then  he  set  his  brain  to  work,  and 
finally  the  Walter  Press,  throwing  off  17,000 
copies  per  hour,  both  sides  printed,  was  the 
result.  It  was  the  29th  of  November,  1814, 
that  the  first  steam  printed  paper  was  given 
to  the  world. 

“ Mean  natures  always  feel  a sort  of  ter- 
ror before  great  natures,  and  many  a base 
thought  has  been  unuttered,  many  a sneaking 


CLEAR  GRIT 


159 


vote  withheld,  through  the  fear  inspired  by 
the  rebuking  presence  of  one  noble  man.”  As 
a rule,  pure  grit,  character,  has  the  right  of 
way.  In  the  presence  of  men  permeated  with 
grit  and  sound  in  character,  meanness  and 
baseness  slink  out  of  sight.  Mean  men  are 
uncomfortable,  dishonesty  trembles,  hypocrisy 
is  uncertain. 

Lincoln,  being  asked  by  an  anxious  visitor 
what  he  would  do  after  three  or  four  years 
if  the  rebellion  were  not  subdued,  replied: 
“ Oh,  there  is  no  alternative  but  to  keep  peg- 
ging away.” 

“ It  is  in  me  and  it  shall  come  out,”  said 
Sheridan,  when  told  that  he  would  never  make 
an  orator  as  he  had  failed  in  his  first  speech 
in  Parliament.  He  became  known  as  one  of 
the'  foremost  orators  of  his  day. 

When  a boy  Henry  Clay  was  very  bashful 
and  diffident,  and  scarcely  dared  recite  be- 
fore his  class  at  school,  but  he  determined 
to  become  an  orator.  So  he  committed 
speeches  and  recited  them  in  the  cornfields,  or 
in  the  barn  with  the  horse  and  cows  for  an 
audience. 

If  impossibilities  ever  exist,  popularly 
speaking,  they  ought  to  have  been  found 
somewhere  between  the  birth  and  death  of 


i6o  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Kitto,  that  deaf  pauper  and  master  of  Oriental 
learning.  But  Kitto  did  not  find  them  there. 
In  the  presence  of  his  decision  and  imperial 
energy  they  melted  away.  He  begged  his 
father  to  take  him  out  of  the  poorhouse,  even 
if  he  had  to  subsist  like  the  Hottentots.  He 
told  him  that  he  would  sell  his  books  and 
pawn  his  handkerchief,  by  which  he  thought 
he  could  raise  about  twelve  shillings.  He 
said  he  could  live  upon  blackberries,  nuts, 
and  field  turnips,  and  was  willing  to  sleep 
on  a hayrick.  Here  was  real  grit.  What 
were  impossibilities  to  such  a resolute,  in- 
domitable will? 

Grit  is  a permanent,  solid  quality,  which 
enters  into  the  very  structure,  the  ver>'  tis- 
sues of  the  constitution. 

Many  of  our  generals  in  the  Civil  War  ex- 
hibited heroism ; they  were  “ plucky,”  and 
often  displayed  great  determination,  but 
Grant  had  pure  “ grit  ” in  the  most  concen- 
trated form.  He  could  not  be  moved  from 
his  base;  he  was  self-centered,  immovable. 
“ If  you  try  to  wheedle  out  of  him  his  plans 
for  a campaign,  he  stolidly  smokes;  if  you 
call  him  an  imbecile  and  a blunderer,  he 
blandly  lights  another  cigar ; if  you  praise 
him  as  the  greatest  general  living,  he  placidly 


CLEAR  GRIT 


i6i 


returns  the  puff  from  his  regalia;  and  if  you 
tell  him  he  should  run  for  the  presidency,  it 
does  not  disturb  the  equanimity  with  which 
he  inhales  and  exhales  the  unsubstantial  vapor 
which  typifies  the  politician’s  promises.  While 
you  are  wondering  what  kind  of  creature 
this  man  without  a tongue  is,  you  are  sud- 
denly electrified  with  the  news  of  some  splen- 
did victory ; proving  that  behind  the  cigar, 
and  behind  the  face  discharged  of  all  tell- 
tale expression,  is  the  best  brain  to  plan  and 
the  strongest  heart  to  dare  among  the  generals 
of  the  Republic.” 

Lincoln  had  pure  “grit.”  When  the  illus- 
trated papers  everywhere  were  caricaturing 
him,  when  no  epithet  seemed  too  harsh  to 
heap  upon  him,  when  his  methods  were  criti- 
cized by  his  own  party,  and  the  generals  in 
the  war  were  denouncing  his  “ foolish  ” con- 
fidence in  Grant,  and  delegations  were  waiting 
upon  him  to  ask  for  that  general’s  removal, 
the  great  President  sat  with  crossed  legs,  and 
was  reminded  of  a story. 

Lincoln  and  Grant  both  had  that  rare  nerve 
which  cares  not  for  ridicule,  is  not  swerved 
by  public  clamor,  can  bear  abuse  and  hatred. 
There  is  a mighty  force  in  truth,  and  in  the 
sublime  conviction  and  supreme  self-confi- 


i62  rising  in  the  WORLD 


dence  behind  it ; in  the  knowledge  that  truth 
is  mighty,  and  the  conviction  and  confidence 
that  it  will  prevail. 

Pure  grit  is  that  element  of  character  which 
enables  a man  to  clutch  his  aim  with  an  iron 
grip,  and  keep  the  needle  of  his  purpose  point- 
ing to  the  star  of  his  hope.  Through  sun- 
shine and  storm,  through  hurricane  and  tem- 
pest, through  sleet  and  rain,  with  a leaky  ship, 
with  a crew  in  mutiny,  it  perseveres ; in  fact, 
nothing  but  death  can  subdue  it,  and  it  dies 
still  struggling. 

The  man  of  grit  carries  in  his  very  pres- 
ence a power  which  controls  and  commands. 
He  is  spared  the  necessity  of  declaring  him- 
self, for  his  grit  speaks  in  his  every  act.  It 
does  not  come  by  fits  and  starts,  it  is  a part 
of  his  life.  It  inspires  a sublime  audacity 
and  a heroic  courage.  Man\  of  the  fail- 
ures of  life  are  due  to  the  want  of  grit  or 
business  nerve.  It  is  unfortunate  for  a young 
man  to  start  out  in  business  life  with  a weak, 
yielding  disposition,  with  no  resolution  or 
backbone  to  mark  his  own  course  and  stick  to 
it ; with  no  ability  to  say  “ No  ” with  an  em- 
phasis, obliging  this  man  by  investing  in  hope- 
less speculation,  and,  rather  than  offend  a 
friend,  indorsing  a questionable  note. 


CLEAR  GRIT 


163 


A little  boy  was  asked  how  he  learned  to 
skate.  “ Oh,  by  getting  up  every  time  I fell 
down,”  he  replied. 

Whipple  tells  a story  of  Massena  which  il- 
lustrates the  masterful  purpose  that  plucks 
victory  out  of  the  jaws  of  defeat.  “ After 
the  defeat  at  Essling,  the  success  of  Napo- 
leon’s attempt  to  withdraw  his  beaten  army 
depended  on  the  character  of  Massena,  to 
whom  the  Emperor  dispatched  a messenger, 
telling  him  to  keep  his  position  for  two  hours 
longer  at  Aspern.  This  order,  couched  in 
the  form  of  a request,  required  almost  an 
impossibility;  but  Napoleon  knew  the  indomi- 
table tenacity  of  the  man  to  whom  he  gave 
it.  The  messenger  found  Massena  seated  on 
a heap  of  rubbish,  his  eyes  bloodshot,  his 
frame  weakened  by  his  unparalleled  exer- 
tions during  a contest  of  forty  hours,  and  his 
whole  appearance  indicating  a physical  state 
better  befitting  the  hospital  than  the  field. 
But  that  steadfast  soul  seemed  altogether  un- 
affected by  bodily  prostration.  Half  dead  as 
he  was  with  fatigue,  he  rose  painfully  and 
said  courageously,  ‘ Tell  the  Emperor  that  I 
will  hold  out  for  two  hours.’  And  he  kept 
his  word.” 

“ Often  defeated  in  battle,”  said  Macaulay 


i64  rising  in  the  WORLD 


of  Alexander  the  Great,  “ he  was  always  suc- 
cessful in  war.” 

In  the  battle  of  Marengo,  the  Austrians 
considered  the  day  won.  The  French  army 
was  inferior  in  numbers,  and  had  given  way. 
The  Austrian  army  extended  its  wings  on 
the  right  and  on  the  left,  to  follow  up  the 
French.  Then,  though  the  French  them- 
selves thought  that  the  battle  was  lost,  and 
the  Austrians  were  confident  it  was  \von, 
Napoleon  gave  the  command  to  charge; 
and,  the  trumpet’s  blast  being  given,  the 
Old  Guard  charged  down  into  the  weak- 
ened center  of  the  enemy,  cut  it  in  two,  rolled 
the  two  wings  up  on  either  side,  and  the  bat- 
tle was  won  for  France. 

Once  when  Marshal  Ney  w'as  going  into 
battle,  looking  down  at  his  knees  which  were 
smiting  together,  he  said,  “ You  may  w'ell 
shake ; you  would  shake  worse  yet  if  you 
knew  where  I am  going  to  take  you.” 

It  is  victory  after  victory  with  the  soldier, 
lesson  after  lesson  with  the  scholar,  blow  after 
blow  with  the  laborer,  crop  after  crop  with 
the  farmer,  picture  after  picture  with  the 
painter,  and  mile  after  mile  with  the  traveler, 
that  secures  what  all  so  much  desire — Suc- 


cess. 


CLEAR  GRIT 


165 

A promising  Harvard  student  was  stricken 
with  paralysis  of  both  legs.  Physicians  said 
there  was  no  hope  for  him.  The  lad  deter- 
mined to  continue  his  college  studies.  The 
examiners  heard  him  at  his  bedside,  and  in 
four  years  he  took  his  degree.  He  resolved 
to  make  a critical  study  of  Dante,  to  do  which 
he  had  to  learn  Italian  and  German.  He 
persevered  in  spite  of  repeated  attacks  of  ill- 
ness and  partial  loss  of  sight.  He  was  com- 
peting for  the  university  prize.  Think  of 
the  paralytic  lad,  helpless  in  bed,  competing 
for  a prize,  fighting  death  inch  by  inch ! What 
a lesson ! Before  his  manuscript  was  pub- 
lished or  the  prize  awarded,  the  brave  student 
died,  but  his  work  was  successful. 

Congressman  William  W.  Crapo,  while 
working  his  way  through  college,  being  too 
poor  to  buy  a dictionary,  actually  copied  one, 
walking  from  his  home  in  the  village  of  Dart- 
mouth, Mass.,  to  New  Bedford  to  replenish 
his  store  of  words  and  definitions  from  the 
town  library. 

Oh,  the  triumphs  of  this  indomitable  spirit 
of  the  conqueror!  This  it  was  that  enabled 
Franklin  to  dine  on  a small  loaf  in  the  print- 
ing-office with  a book  in  his  hand.  It  helped 
Locke  to  live  on  bread  and  water  in  a Dutch 


i66  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


garret.  It  enabled  Gideon  Lee  to  go  barefoot 
in  the  snow,  half  starved  and  thinly  clad.  It 
sustained  Lincoln  and  Garfield  on  their  hard 
journeys  from  the  log  cabin  to  the  White 
House. 

President  Chadbourne  put  grit  in  place  of 
his  lost  lung,  and  worked  thirty-five  years 
after  his  funeral  had  been  planned. 

Henry  Fawcett  put  grit  in  place  of  eye- 
sight, and  became  the  greatest  Postmaster- 
General  England  ever  had. 

Prescott  also  put  grit  in  place  of  eyesight, 
and  became  one  of  America’s  greatest  histo- 
rians. Francis  Parkman  put  grit  in  place  of 
health  and  eyesight,  and  became  the  greatest 
historian  of  America  in  his  line.  Thousands 
of  men  have  put  grit  in  place  of  health, 
eyes,  ears,  hands,  legs  and  yet  have  achieved 
marvelous  success.  Indeed,  most  of  the 
great  things  of  the  world  have  been  accom- 
plished by  grit  and  pluck.  You  can  not  keep  a 
man  down  who  has  these  qualities.  He  will 
make  stepping-stones  out  of  his  stumbling- 
blocks,  and  lift  himself  to  success. 

At  fifty,  Barnum  was  a ruined  man,  owing 
thousands  more  than  he  possessed,  yet  he 
resolutely  resumed  business  once  more,  fairly 
wringing  success  from  adverse  fortune,  and 


CLEAR  GRIT 


167 


paying  his  notes  at  the  same  time.  Again 
and  again  he  was  ruined ; but  phoenix-like, 
he  rose  repeatedly  from  the  ashes  of  his  mis- 
fortune each  time  more  determined  than  be- 
fore. 

“ It  is  all  very  well,”  said  Charles  J.  Fox, 
“ to  tell  me  that  a young  man  has  distin- 
guished himself  by  a brilliant  first  speech. 
He  may  go  on,  or  he  may  be  satisfied  with 
his  first  triumph ; but  show  me  a young  man 
who  has  not  succeeded  at  first,  and  neverthe- 
less has  gone  on,  and  I will  back  that  young 
man  to  do  better  than  most  of  those  who 
have  succeeded  at  the  first  trial.” 

Cobden  broke  down  completely  the  first 
time  he  appeared  on  a platform  in  Manches- 
ter, and  the  chairman  apologized  for  him. 
But  he  did  not  give  up  speaking  till  every 
poor  man  in  England  had  a larger,  better,  and 
cheaper  loaf. 

See  young  Disraeli,  sprung  from  a hated 
and  persecuted  race ; without  opportunity, 
pushing  his  way  up  through  the  middle 
classes,  up  through  the  upper  classes,  until 
he  stands  self-poised  upon  the  topmost  round 
of  political  and  social  power.  Scoffed,  ridi- 
culed, rebuffed,  hissed  from  the  House  of 
Commons,  he  simply  says,  “ The  time  will 


i68  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


come  when  you  will  hear  me.”  The  time  did 
come,  and  the  boy  with  no  chance  swayed 
the  scepter  of  England  for  a quarter  of  a cen- 
tury. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  examples  in 
history  is  Disraeli,  forcing  his  leadership  upon 
that  very  party  whose  prejudices  were  deepest 
against  his  race,  and  which  had  an  utter  con- 
tempt for  self-made  men  and  interlopers. 
Imagine  England’s  surprise  when  she  awoke 
to  find  this  insignificant  Hebrew  actually 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer ! He  was  easily 
master  of  all  the  tortures  supplied  by  the 
armory  of  rhetoric ; he  could  exhaust  the 
resources  of  the  bitterest  invective ; he  could 
sting  Gladstone  out  of  his  self-control ; he 
was  absolute  master  of  himself  and  his  sit- 
uation. You  could  see  that  this  young  man 
intended  to  make  his  way  in  the  world.  Deter- 
mined audacity  was  in  his  very  face.  Hand- 
some, with  the  hated  Hebrew  blood  in  his 
veins,  after  three  defeats  in  parliamentary 
elections  he  was  not  the  least  daunted,  for 
he  knew  his  day  would  come.  Lord  Mel- 
bourne, the  great  Prime  Minister,  when  this 
gay  young  fop  was  introduced  to  him,  asked 
him  what  he  wished  to  be.  “ Prime  Minister 
of  England,”  was  his  audacious  reply. 


CLEAR  GRIT 


169 


William  H.  Seward  was  given  a thousand 
dollars  by  his  father  with  which  to  go  to  col- 
lege ; this  was  all  he  was  to  have.  The  son  re- 
turned at  the  end  of  the  freshman  year  with 
extravagant  habits  and  no  money.  His  father 
refused  to  give  him  more,  and  told  him  he 
could  not  stay  at  home.  When  the  youth 
found  the  props  all  taken  out  from  under  him, 
and  that  he  must  now  sink  or  swim,  he  left 
home  moneyless,  returned  to  college,  grad- 
uated at  the  head  of  his  class,  studied  law, 
was  elected  Governor  of  New  York,  and  be- 
came Lincoln’s  great  Secretary  of  State  dur- 
ing the  Civil  War. 

Garfield  said,  “If  the  power  to  do  hard 
work  is  not  talent,  it  is  the  best  possible  sub- 
stitute for  it.”  The  triumph  of  industry  and 
grit  ' over  low  birth  and  iron  fortune  in 
America,  the  land  of  opportunity,  ought  to  be 
sufficient  to  put  to  shame  all  grumblers  over 
their  hard  fortune  and  those  who  attempt  to 
excuse  aimless,  shiftless,  successless  men  be- 
cause they  have  no  chance. 

During  a winter  in  the  War  of  1812,  Gen- 
eral Jackson’s  troops,  unprovided  for  and 
starving,  became  mutinous  and  were  going 
home.  But  the  general  set  the  example  of 
living  on  acorns ; and  then  he  rode  before  the 


170  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


rebellious  line  and  threatened  with  instant 
death  the  first  mutineer  that  should  try  to 
leave. 

The  race  is  not  always  to  the  swift,  the 
battle  is  not  always  to  the  strong.  Horses  are 
sometimes  weighted  or  hampered  in  the  race, 
and  this  is  taken  into  account  in  the  result. 
So  in  the  race  of  life  the  distance  alone  does 
not  determine  the  prize.  We  must  take  into 
consideration  the  hindrances,  the  weights  we 
have  carried,  the  disadvantages  of  education, 
of  breeding,  of  training,  of  surroundings,  of 
circumstances.  How  many  young  men  are 
weighted  down  with  debt,  with  poverty,  with 
the  support  of  invalid  parents  or  brothers  and 
sisters,  or  friends?  How  many  are  fettered 
with  ignorance,  hampered  by  inhospitable  sur- 
roundings, with  the  opposition  of  parents  who 
do  not  understand  them  ? How  many  a round 
boy  is  hindered  in  the  race  by  being  forced 
into  a square  hole?  How  many  youths  are 
delayed  in  their  course  because  nobody  be- 
lieves in  them,  because  nobody  encourages 
them,  because  they  get  no  sympathy  and  are 
forever  tortured  for  not  doing  that  against 
which  every  fiber  of  their  being  protests,  and 
every  drop  of  their  blood  rebels?  How 
many  men  have  to  feel  their  way  to  the  goal 


CLEAR  GRIT 


171 

through  the  blindness  of  ignorance  and  lack 
of  experience  ? How  many  go  bungling  along 
from  the  lack  of  early  discipline  and  drill  in 
the  vocation  they  have  chosen?  How  many 
have  to  hobble  along  on  crutches  because 
they  were  never  taught  to  help  themselves, 
but  have  been  accustomed  to  lean  upon  a 
father’s  wealth  or  a mother’s  indulgence? 
How  many  are  weakened  for  the  journey  of 
life  by  self-indulgence,  by  dissipation,  by 
“ life-sappers  ” ; how  many  are  crippled  by 
disease,  by  a weak  constitution,  by  impaired 
eyesight  or  hearing? 

When  the  prizes  of  life  shall  be  finally 
awarded,  the  distance  we  have  run,  the 
weights  we  have  carried,  the  handicaps,  will 
all  be  taken  into  account.  Not  the  distance 
we  have  run,  but  the  obstacles  we  have  over- 
come, the  disadvantages  under  which  we  have 
made  the  race,  will  decide  the  prizes.  The 
poor  wretch  who  has  plodded  along  against 
unknown  temptations,  the  poor  woman  who 
has  buried  her  sorrows  in  her  silent  heart  and 
sewed  her  weary  way  through  life,  those  who 
have  suffered  abuse  in  silence,  and  who  have 
been  unrecognized  or  despised  by  their  fel- 
low-runners, will  often  receive  the  greater 
prize. 


172  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


“ The  wise  and  active  conquer  difficulties, 

By  daring  to  attempt  them;  sloth  and  folly 
Shiver  and  sink  at  sight  of  toil  and  hazard, 
And  make  the  impossibility  they  fear.” 


IX.  RICH  WITHOUT  MONEY 


Let  others  plead  for  pensions;  I can  be  rich  with- 
out money,  by  endeavoring  to  be  superior  to  every- 
thing poor.  I would  have  my  services  to  my  country 
unstained  by  any  interested  motive. — Lord  Colling- 

WOOD. 

I ought  not  to  allow  any  man,  because  he  has 
broad  lands,  to  feel  that  he  is  rich  in  my  presence. 
I ought  to  make  him  feel  that  I can  do  without  his 
riches,  that  I can  not  be  bought, — neither  by  comfort, 
neither  by  pride, — and  although  I be  utterly  penni- 
less, and  receiving  bread  from  him,  that  he  is  the 
poor  man  beside  me. — Emerson. 

He  is  richest  who  is  content  with  the  least,  for 
content  is  the  wealth  of  nature. — Socrates. 

My  crown  is  in  my  heart,  not  on  my  head. 

Nor  decked  with  diamonds  and  Indian  stones. 

Nor  to  be  seen:  my  crown  is  called  content; 

A crown  it  is,  that  seldom  kings  enjoy. 

Shakespeare. 

ANY  a man  is  rich  without 
money.  Thousands  of  men 
with  nothing  in  their  pockets 
are  rich. 

A man  born  with  a good, 
sound  constitution,  a good 
stomach,  a good  heart  and  good  limbs,  and  a 
pretty  good  head-piece,  is  rich. 

Good  bones  are  better  than  gold,  tough 

173 


174  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


muscles  than  silver,  and  nerves  that  carrj’ 
energy  to  every  function  are  better  than 
houses  and  land. 

“ Heart-life,  soul-life,  hope,  joy,  and  love, 
are  true  riches,”  said  Beecher. 

Why  should  I scramble  and  struggle  to 
get  possession  of  a little  portion  of  this 
earth?  This  is  my  world  now;  why  should 
I envy  others  its  mere  legal  possession?  It 
belongs  to  him  who  can  see  it,  enjoy  it.  I 
need  not  envy  the  so-called  owners  of  estates 
in  Boston  or  New  York.  They  are  merely 
taking  care  of  my  property  and  keeping  it  in 
excellent  condition  for  me.  For  a few  pen- 
nies for  railroad  fare  whenever  I wish  I can 
see  and  possess  the  best  of  it  all.  It  has 
cost  me  no  effort,  it  gives  me  no  care ; yet 
the  green  grass,  the  shrubbery,  and  the 
statues  on  the  lawns,  the  finer  sculptures  and 
the  paintings  within,  are  always  ready  for 
me  whenever  I feel  a desire  to  look  upon 
them.  I do  not  wish  to  carry  them  home 
with  me,  for  I could  not  give  them  half  the 
care  they  now  receive ; besides,  it  would  take 
too  much  of  my  valuable  time,  and  I should 
be  worrying  continually  lest  they  be  spoiled 
or  stolen.  I have  much  of  the  wealth  of  the 
world  now.  It  is  all  prepared  for  me  with- 


RICH  WITHOUT  MONEY  175 


out  any  pains  on  my  part.  All  around  me 
are  working  hard  to  get  things  that  will 
please  me,  and  competing  to  see  who  ican 
give  them  the  cheapest.  The  little  that  I pay 
for  the  use  of  libraries,  railroads,  galleries, 
parks,  is  less  than  it  would  cost  to  care  for 
the  least  of  all  I use.  Life  and  landscape  are 
mine,  the  stars  and  flowers,  the  sea  and  air, 
the  birds  and  trees.  What  more  do  I want? 
All  the  ages  have  been  working  for  me;  all 
mankind  are  my  servants.  I am  only  re- 
quired to  feed  and  clothe  myself,  an  easy  task 
in  this  land  of  opportunity. 

A millionaire  pays  a big  fortune  for 
a gallery  of  paintings,  and  some  poor  boy  or 
girl  comes  in,  with  open  mind  and  poetic 
fancy,  and  carries  away  a treasure  of  beauty 
which  the  owner  never  saw.  A jcollector 
bought  at  public  auction  in  London,  for  one 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  guineas,  an  autograph 
of  Shakespeare ; but  for  nothing  a schoolboy 
can  read  and  absorb  the  riches  of  “ Hamlet.” 

“ Want  is  a growing  giant  whom  the  coat 
of  Have  was  never  large  enough  to  cover.” 
“ A man  may  as  soon  fill  a chest  with  grace, 
or  a vessel  with  virtue,”  says  Phillips  Brooks, 
“ as  a heart  with  wealth.” 

Shall  we  seek  happiness  through  the  sense 


176  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


of  taste  or  of  touch?  Shall  we  idolize  our 
stomachs  and  our  backs  ? Have  we  no  higher 
missions,  no  nobler  destinies?  Shall  we  “ dis- 
grace the  fair  day  by  a pusillanimous  prefer- 
ence of  our  bread  to  our  freedom  ” ? 

What  does  your  money  say  to  you ; what 
message  does  it  bring  to  you  ? Does  it  say  to 
you,  “ Eat,  drink,  and  be  merry,  for  to-mor- 
row we  die  ” ? Does  it  bring  a message  of 
comfort,  of  education,  of  culture,  of  travel,  of 
books,  of  an  opportunity  to  help  your  fellow- 
men,  or  is  the  message  “ More  land,  more 
thousands  and  millions”?  What  message 
does  it  bring  you?  Clothes  for  the  naked, 
bread  for  the  starving,  schools  for  the  igno- 
rant, hospitals  for  the  sick,  asylums  for  the 
orphans,  or  of  more  for  yourself  and  none 
for  others?  Is  it  a message  of  generosity  or 
of  meanness,  breadth  or  narrowness?  Does  it 
speak  to  you  of  character?  Does  it  mean  a 
broader  manhood,  a larger  aim,  a nobler  am- 
bition, or  does  it  cry,  “ More,  more,  more”? 

Are  you  an  animal  loaded  with  ingots,  or 
a man  filled  with  a purpose?  He  is  rich 
whose  mind  is  rich,  whose  thought  enriches 
the  intellect  of  the  world. 

A sailor  on  a sinking  vessel  in  the  Carib- 
bean Sea  eagerly  filled  his  pockets  with 


RICH  WITHOUT  MONEY  177 


Spanish  dollars  from  a barrel  on  board  while 
his  companions,  about  to  leave  in  the  only 
boat,  begged  him  to  seek  safety  with  them. 
But  he  could  not  leave  the  bright  metal  which 
he  had  so  longed  for  and  idolized,  and  when 
the  vessel  went  down  he  was  prevented  by 
his  very  riches  from  reaching  shore. 

“ Who  is  the  richest  of  men  ? ” asked  Soc- 
rates. “ He  who  is  content  with  the  least,  for 
contentment  is  nature’s  riches.” 

In  More’s  “ Utopia  ” gold  was  despised. 
Criminals  were  forced  to  wear  heavy  chains 
of  it,  and  to  have  rings  of  it  in  their  ears;  it 
was  put  to  the  vilest  uses  to  keep  up  the  scorn 
of  it.  Bad  characters  were  compelled  to  wear 
gold  head-bands.  Diamonds  and  pearls  were 
used  to  decorate  infants,  so  that  the  youth 
would  discard  and  despise  them. 

“ Ah,  if  the  rich  were  as  rich  as  the  poor 
fancy  riches ! ” exclaims  Emerson. 

In  excavating  Pompeii  a skeleton  was 
found  with  the  fingers  clenched  round  a 
quantity  of  gold.  A man  of  business  in  the 
town  of  Hull,  England,  when  dying,  pulled 
a bag  of  money  from  under  his  pillow,  which 
he  held  between  his  clenched  fingers  with  a 
grasp  so  firm  as  scarcely  to  relax  under  the 
agonies  of  death. 


178  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


“ Oh ! blind  and  wanting  wit  to  choose, 

Who  house  the  chaff  and  burn  the  grain; 

Who  hug  the  wealth  ye  can  not  use. 

And  lack  the  riches  all  may  gain.” 

Poverty  is  the  want  of  much,  avarice  the 
want  of  everything. 

A poor  man  while  scoffing  at  the  wealthy 
for  not  enjoying  themselves  was  met  by  a 
stranger  who  gave  him  a purse,  in  which  he 
was  always  to  find  a ducat.  As  fast  as  he 
took  one  out  another  was  to  drop  in,  but  he 
was  not  to  begin  to  spend  his  fortune  until 
he  had  thrown  away  the  purse.  He  took 
ducat  after  ducat  out,  but  continually  procras- 
tinated and  put  off  the  hour  of  enjoyment 
until  he  had  got  “ a little  more,”  and  died  at 
last  counting  his  millions. 

A beggar  was  once  met  by  Fortune,  who 
promised  to  fill  his  wallet  with  gold,  as  much 
as  he  might  desire,  on  condition  that  what- 
ever touched  the  ground  should  turn  at  once 
to  dust.  The  beggar  opened  his  wallet,  asked 
for  more  and  yet  more,  until  the  bag  burst. 
The  gold  fell  to  the  ground,  and  all  was  lost. 

When  the  steamer  Central  America  was 
about  to  sink,  the  stewardess,  having  collected 
all  the  gold  she  could  from  the  staterooms, 
and  tied  it  in  her  apron,  jumped  for  the  last 


RICH  WITHOUT  MONEY  179 


boat  leaving  the  steamer.  She  missed  her 
aim,  fell  into  the  water  and  the  gold  carried 
her  down  head  first. 

Franklin  said  money  never  made  a man 
happy  yet ; there  is  nothing  in  its  nature  to 
produce  happiness.  The  more  a man  has,  the 
more  he  wants.  Instead  of  filling  a vacuum,  it 
makes  one.  A great  bank  account  can  never 
make  a man  rich.  It  is  the  mind  that  makes 
the  body  rich.  No  man  is  rich,  however  much 
money  or  land  he  may  possess,  who  has  a 
poor  heart.  If  that  is  poor,  he  is  poor  indeed, 
though  he  own  and  rule  kingdoms.  He  is 
rich  or  poor  according  to  what  he  is,  not  ac- 
cording to  what  he  has. 

Some  men  are  rich  in  health,  in  constant 
cheerfulness,  in  a mercurial  temperament 
which  floats  them  over  troubles  and  trials 
enough  to  sink  a shipload  of  ordinary  men. 
Others  are  rich  in  disposition,  family,  and 
friends.  There  are  some  men  so  amiable  that 
everybody  loves  them ; so  cheerful  that  they 
carry  an  atmosphere  of  jollity  about  them. 

The  human  body  is  packed  full  of  marvel- 
ous devices,  of  wonderful  contrivances,  of  in- 
finite possibilities  for  the  happiness  and  enrich- 
ment of  the  individual.  No  physiologist,  in- 
ventor, nor  scientist  has  ever  been  able  to 


i8o  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


point  out  a single  improvement,  even  in  the 
minutest  detail,  in  the  mechanism  of  the  hu- 
man body.  No  chemist  has  ever  been  able 
to  suggest  a superior  combination  in  any  one 
of  the  elements  which  make  up  the  human 
structure. 

One  of  the  first  great  lessons  of  life  is  to 
learn  the  true  estimate  of  values.  As  the 
youth  starts  out  in  his  career  all  sorts  of 
wares  will  be  imposed  upon  him  and  all 
kinds  of  temptations  will  be  used  to  induce 
him  to  buy.  His  success  will  depend  very 
largely  upon  his  ability  to  estimate  properly, 
not  the  apparent  but  the  real  value  of  every- 
thing presented  to  him.  Vulgar  Wealth  will 
flaunt  her  banner  before  his  eyes,  and  claim 
supremacy  over  ever3'thing  else.  A thousand 
different  schemes  will  be  thrust  into  his  face 
with  their  claims  for  superiority.  Every  oc- 
cupation and  vocation  will  present  its  charms 
and  offer  its  inducements  in  turn.  The  youth 
who  would  succeed  must  not  allow  himself 
to  be  deceived  by  appearances,  but  must  place 
the  emphasis  of  life  upon  the  right  thing. 

Raphael  was  rich  without  money.  All  doors 
opened  to  him,  and  he  was  more  than  wel- 
come everywhere.  His  sweet  spirit  radiated 
sunshine  wherever  he  went. 


RICH  WITHOUT  MONEY  i8i 


Henry  Wilson,  the  sworn  friend  of  the  op- 
pressed, whose  one  question,  as  to  measures 
or  acts,  was  ever  “ Is  it  right;  will  it  do 
good  ? ” was  rich  without  money.  So  scrupu- 
lous had  this  Natick  cobbler  been  not  to  make 
his  exalted  position  a means  of  worldly  gain, 
that  when  he  came  to  be  inaugurated  as  Vice- 
President  of  the  country,  he  was  obliged  to 
borrow  of  his  fellow-senator,  Charles  Sumner, 
one  hundred  dollars  to  meet  the  necessary 
expenses  of  the  occasion. 

Mozart,  the  great  composer  of  the  “ Re- 
quiem,” left  barely  enough  money  to  bury 
him,  but  he  has  made  the  world  richer. 

A rich  mind  and  noble  spirit  will  cast  over 
the  humblest  home  a radiance  of  beauty 
which  the  upholsterer  and  decorator  can 
never  approach.  Who  would  not  prefer  to 
be  a millionaire  of  character,  of  contentment, 
rather  than  possess  nothing  but  the  vulgar 
coins  of  a Croesus?  Whoever  uplifts  civili- 
zation, though  he  die  penniless,  is  rich,  and 
future  generations  will  erect  his  monument. 

An  Asiatic  traveler  tells  us  that  one  day  he 
found  the  bodies  of  two  men  laid  upon  the 
desert  sand  beside  the  carcass  of  a camel. 
They  had  evidently  died  from  thirst,  and  yet 
around  the  waist  of  each  was  a large  store 


i82  rising  in  the  WORLD 


of  jewels  of  different  kinds,  which  they  had 
doubtless  been  crossing  the  desert  to  sell  in 
the  markets  of  Persia. 

The  man  who  has  no  money  is  poor,  but 
one  who  has  nothing  but  money  is  poorer. 
He  only  is  rich  who  can  enjoy  without  own- 
ing; he  is  poor  who  though  he  have  millions 
is  covetous.  There  are  riches  of  intellect,  and 
no  man  with  an  intellectual  taste  can  be  called 
poor.  He  is  rich  as  well  as  brave  who  can 
face  compulsory  poverty  and  misfortune  with 
cheerfulness  and  courage. 

We  can  so  educate  the  will  power  that  it 
will  focus  the  thoughts  upon  the  bright  side 
of  things,  and  upon  objects  which  elevate  the 
soul,  thus  forming  a habit  of  happiness  and 
goodness  which  will  make  us  rich.  The  habit 
of  making  the  best  of  everjdhing  and  of  al- 
ways looking  on  the  bright  side  is  a fortune 
in  itself. 

He  is  rich  who  values  a good  name  above 
gold.  Among  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans honor  was  more  sought  after  than 
wealth.  Rome  was  imperial  Rome  no  more 
when  the  imperial  purple  became  an  article 
of  traffic. 

Diogenes  was  captured  by  pirates  and  sold 
as  a slave.  His  purchaser  released  him,  giv- 


RICH  WITHOUT  MONEY  183 


ing  him  charge  of  his  household  and  of  the 
education  of  his  children.  Diogenes  despised 
wealth  and  affectation,  and  lived  in  a tub. 
“ Do  you  want  anything  ? ” asked  Alexander 
the  Great,  greatly  impressed  by  the  abound- 
ing cheerfulness  of  the  philosopher  under 
such  circumstances.  “ Yes,”  replied  Diogenes, 
“ I want  you  to  stand  out  of  my  sunshine  and 
not  take  from  me  what  you  can  not  give 
me.”  “ Were  I not  Alexander,”  exclaimed 
the  great  conqueror,  “ I would  be  Diogenes.” 

“ I don’t  want  such  things,”  said  Epictetus 
to  the  rich  Roman  orator  who  was  making 
light  of  his  contempt  for  money-wealth ; “ and 
besides,”  said  the  stoic,  “ you  are  poorer  than 
I am,  after  all.  You  have  silver  vessels,  but 
earthenware  reasons,  principles,  appetites.  My 
mind  to  me  a kingdom  is,  and  it  furnishes 
me  with  abundant  and  happy  occupation  in 
lieu  of  your  restless  idleness.  All  your  pos- 
sessions seem  small  to  you ; mine  seem  great 
to  me.  Your  desire  is  insatiate,  mine  is  sat- 
isfied.” 

“ Do  you  know,  sir,”  said  a devotee  of 
Mammon  to  John  Bright,  “ that  I am  worth  a 
million  sterling?”  “Yes,”  said  the  irritated 
but  calm-spirited  respondent,  “I  do ; and  I 
know  that  it  is  all  you  are  worth,” 


i84  rising  in  the  WORLD 


A bankrupt  merchant,  returning  home  one 
night,  said  to  his  noble  wife,  “ My  dear,  I am 
ruined ; everything  we  have  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  sheriff.”  After  a few  moments  of  si- 
lence the  wife  looked  into  his  face  and  asked, 
“Will  the  sheriff  sell  you?”  “Oh,  no.” 
“Will  the  sheriff  sell  me?”  “Oh,  no.” 
“ Then  do  not  say  we  have  lost  everything. 
All  that  is  most  valuable  remains  to  us, — 
manhood,  womanhood,  childhood.  We  have 
lost  but  the  results  of  our  skill  and  industry. 
We  can  make  another  fortune  if  our  hearts 
and  hands  are  left  us.” 

What  power  can  poverty  have  over  a home 
where  loving  hearts  are  beating  with  a con- 
sciousness of  untold  riches  of  the  head  and 
heart? 

St.  Paul  was  never  so  great  as  when  he 
occupied  a prison  cell  under  the  streets  of 
Rome;  and  Jesus  Christ  reached  the  height 
of  His  success  when,  smitten,  spat  upon,  tor- 
mented, and  crucified.  He  cried  in  agony,  and 
yet  with  triumphant  satisfaction,  “ It  is  fin- 
ished.” 

Don’t  start  out  in  life  with  a false  standard ; 
a truly  great  man  makes  official  position  and 
money  and  houses  and  estates  look  so  tawdry, 
so  mean  and  poor,  that  we  feel  like  sinking 


RICH  WITHOUT  MONEY  185 

out  of  sight  with  our  cheap  laurels  and  our 
gold. 

A friend  of  Professor  Agassiz,  an  eminent 
practical  man,  once  expressed  his  wonder  that 
a man  of  such  abilities  should  remain  con- 
tented with  such  a moderate  income  as  he 
received.  “ I have  enough,”  was  Agassiz’s 
reply.  “ I have  no  time  to  waste  in  making 
money.  Life  is  not  sufficiently  long  to  en- 
able a man  to  get  rich  and  do  his  duty  to  his 
fellow-men  at  the  same  time.” 

How  were  the  thousands  of  business  men 
who  lost  every  dollar  they  had  in  the  Chicago 
fire  enabled  to  go  into  business  at  once,  some 
into  the  wholesale  business,  without  money? 
By  means  of  their  record.  The  commercial 
agencies  said  they  were  square  men ; that  they 
had  always  paid  one  hundred  cents  on  a dol- 
lar; that  they  had  paid  promptly,  and  that 
they  were  industrious  and  dealt  honorably 
with  all  men.  This  record  was  as  good  as 
a bank  account.  They  drew  on  their  charac- 
ter. Character  was  the  coin  which  enabled 
penniless  men  to  buy  thousands  of  dollars’ 
worth  of  goods.  The  best  part  of  them,  their 
integrity,  was  beyond  the  reach  of  fire  and 
could  not  be  burned. 

What  are  the  toil-sweated  productions  of 


i86  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


wealth  piled  up  in  vast  profusion  around  some 
of  our  millionaires  when  weighed  against 
the  stores  of  wisdom,  the  treasures  of  knowl- 
edge, and  the  strength,  beauty,  and  glory 
with  which  victorious  virtue  has  enriched  and 
adorned  a great  multitude  of  minds  during 
the  march  of  a hundred  generations? 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  our  children  start  out 
with  wrong  ideals  of  life,  with  wrong  ideas 
of  what  constitutes  success?  The  child  is 
urged  to  “ get  on,”  to  “ rise  in  the  world,”  to 
“ make  money.”  The  youth  is  constantly  told 
that  nothing  succeeds  like  success.  False 
standards  are  everywhere  set  up  for  him,  and 
then  the  boy  is  blamed  if  he  goes  wrong. 

One  of  the  great  lessons  to  teach  in  this 
century  of  sharp  competition  and  the  survival 
of  the  fittest  is  how  to  be  rich  without  money 
and  to  learn  how  to  live  without  success  ac- 
cording to  the  popular  standard. 

In  the  poem,  “ The  Changed  Cross,”  a 
weary  woman  is  represented  as  dreaming  that 
she  was  led  to  a place  where  many  crosses 
lay,  crosses  of  divers  shapes  and  sizes.  The 
most  beautiful  one  was  set  in  jewels  of  gold. 
It  was  so  tiny  and  exquisite  that  she  changed 
her  own  plain  cross  for  it,  thinking  she  was 
fortunate  in  finding  one  so  much  lighter  and 


RICH  WITHOUT  MONEY  187 


lovelier.  But  soon  her  back  began  to  ache 
under  the  glittering  burden,  and  she  changed 
it  for  another,  very  beautiful  and  entwined 
with  flowers.  But  she  soon  found  that  un- 
derneath the  flowers  were  piercing  thorns 
which  tore  her  flesh.  At  last  she  came  to  a 
very  plain  cross  without  jewels,  without  carv- 
ing, and  with  only  the  word,  “ Love,”  in- 
scribed upon  it.  She  took  this  one  up  and 
it  proved  the  easiest  and  best  of  all.  She 
was  amazed,  however,  to  find  that  it  was  her 
old  cross  which  she  had  discarded. 

It  is  easy  to  see  the  jewels  and  the  flowers 
in  other  people’s  crosses,  but  the  thorns  and 
heavy  weight  are  known  only  to  the  bearers. 
How  easy  other  people’s  burdens  seem  to  us 
compared  with  our  own!  We  do  not  realize 
the  secret  burdens  which  almost  crush  the 
heart,  nor  the  years  of  weary  waiting  for 
delayed  success — the  aching  hearts  longing 
for  sympathy,  the  hidden  poverty,  the  sup- 
pressed emotion  in  other  lives. 

William  Pitt,  the  Great  Commoner,  consid- 
ered money  as  dirt  beneath  his  feet  compared 
with  the  public  interest  and  public  esteem. 
His  hands  were  clean. 

The  object  for  which  we  strive  tells  the 
story  of  our  lives.  Men  and  women  should 


i88  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


be  judged  by  the  happiness  they  create  in 
those  around  them.  Noble  deeds  always  en- 
rich, but  millions  of  mere  dollars  may  impov- 
erish. Character  is  perpetual  wealth,  and  by 
the  side  of  him  who  possesses  it  the  million- 
aire who  has  it  not  seems  a pauper. 

Invest  in  yourself,  and  you  will  never  be 
poor.  Floods  can  not  carry  your  wealth  away, 
fire  can  not  burn  it,  rust  can  not  consume  it. 

“ If  a man  empties  his  purse  into  his  head,” 
says  Franklin,  “no  man  can  take  it  from  him. 
An  investment  in  knowledge  always  pays  the 
best  interest.” 

Howe’er  it  be,  it  seents  to  me, 

’Tis  only  noble  to  be  good. 

Kind  hearts  are  more  than  coronets, 

And  simple  faith  than  Norman  blood. 

Tennyson. 


X.  OPPORTUNITIES  WHERE  YOU 
ARE 


To  each  man’s  life  there  comes  a time  supreme; 
One  day,  one  night,  one  morning,  or  one  noon. 
One  freighted  hour,  one  moment  opportune, 

One  rift  through  which  sublime  fulfilments  gleam, 
One  space  when  fate  goes  tiding  with  the  stream. 
One  Once,  in  balance  ’twixt  Too  Late,  Too 
Soon, 

And  ready  for  the  passing  instant’s  boon 
To  tip  in  favor  the  uncertain  beam. 

Ah,  happy  he  who,  knowing  how  to  wait. 

Knows  also  how  to  watch  and  work  and  stand 
On  Life’s  broad  deck  alert,  and  at  the  prow 
To  seize  the  passing  moment,  big  with  fate. 

From  Opportunity’s  extended  hand. 

When  the  great  clock  of  destiny  strikes  Now ! 

Mary  A.  Townsend. 

What  is  opportunity  to  a man  who  can’t  use  it? 
An  unfecundated  egg,  which  the  waves  of  time  wash 
away  into  nonentity. — George  Eliot. 

The  secret  of  success  in  life  is  for  a man  to  be 
ready  for  his  opportunity  when  it  comes. — Disraeli. 

HERE  are  no  longer  any 
good  chances  for  young 
men,”  complained  a youthful 
law  student  to  Daniel  Web- 
ster. “ There  is  always  room 
at  the  top,”  replied  the  great 
statesman  and  jurist. 

No  chance,  no  opportunities,  in  a land 

189 


190  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


where  thousands  of  poor  boys  become  rich 
men,  where  newsboys  go  to  Congress,  and 
where  those  born  in  the  lowest  stations  attain 
the  highest  positions?  The  world  is  all  gates, 
all  opportunities  to  him  who  will  use  them. 
But,  like  Bunyan’s  Pilgrim  in  the  dungeon  of 
Giant  Despair’s  castle,  who  had  the  key  of 
deliverance  all  the  time  with  him  but  had  for- 
gotten it,  we  fail  to  rely  wholly  upon  the 
ability  to  advance  all  that  is  good  for  us 
which  has  been  given  to  the  weakest  as  well 
as  the  strongest.  We  depend  too  much  upon 
outside  assistance. 

“We  look  too  high 
For  things  close  by.” 

A Baltimore  lady  lost  a valuable  diamond 
bracelet  at  a ball,  and  supposed  that  it  was 
stolen  from  the  pocket  of  her  cloak.  Years 
afterward  she  washed  the  steps  of  the  Pea- 
body Institute,  pondering  how  to  get  money 
to  buy  food.  She  cut  up  an  old,  worn-out, 
ragged  cloak  to  make  a hood,  when  lo ! in  the 
lining  of  the  cloak  she  discovered  the  dia- 
mond bracelet.  During  all  her  poverty  she 
was  worth  $3500,  but  did  not  know  it. 

Many  of  us  who  think  we  are  poor  are  rich 
in  opportunities,  if  we  could  only  see  them. 


OPPORTUNITIES 


191 


in  possibilities  all  about  us,  in  faculties  worth 
more  than  diamond  bracelets.  In  our  large 
Eastern  cities  it  has  been  found  that  at  least 
ninety-four  out  of  every  hundred  found  their 
first  fortune  at  home,  or  near  at  hand,  and  in 
meeting  common  every-day  wants.  It  is  a 
sorry  day  for  a young  man  who  can  not  see 
any  opportunities  where  he  is,  but  thinks  he 
can  do  better  somewhere  else.  Some  Bra- 
zilian shepherds  organized  a party  to  go  to 
California  to  dig  gold,  and  took  along  a hand- 
ful of  translucent  pebbles  to  play  checkers 
with  on  the  voyage.  After  arriving  in  San 
Francisco,  and  after  they  had  thrown  most 
of  the  pebbles  away,  they  discovered  that  they 
were  diamonds.  They  hastened  back  to  Bra- 
zil, only  to  find  that  the  mines  from  which 
the  pebbles  had  been  gathered  had  been  taken 
up  by  other  prospectors  and  sold  to  the  gov- 
ernment. 

The  richest  gold  and  silver  mine  in  Nevada 
was  sold  by  the  owner  for  $42,  to  get  money 
to  pay  his  passage  to  other  mines,  where  he 
thought  he  could  get  rich.  Professor  Agassiz 
once  told  the  Harvard  students  of  a farmer 
who  owned  a farm  of  hundreds  of  acres  of 
unprofitable  woods  and  rocks,  and  concluded 
to  sell  out  and  get  into  a more  profitable  busi- 


192  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


ness.  He  decided  to  go  into  the  coal-oil 
business ; he  studied  coal  measures  and  coal- 
oil  deposits,  and  experimented  for  a long 
time.  He  sold  his  farm  for  $200,  and  en- 
gaged in  his  new  business  two  hundred  miles 
away.  Only  a short  time  after,  the  man  who 
bought  his  farm  discovered  upon  it  a great 
flood  of  coal-oil,  which  the  farmer  had  pre- 
viously ignorantly  tried  to  drain  off. 

Hundreds  of  years  ago  there  lived  near  the 
shore  of  the  river  Indus  a Persian  by  the 
name  of  Ali  Hafed.  He  lived  in  a cottage 
on  the  river  bank,  from  which  he  could  get 
a grand  view  of  the  beautiful  country  stretch- 
ing away  to  the  sea.  He  had  a wife  and 
children ; an  extensive  farm,  fields  of  grain, 
gardens  of  flowers,  orchards  of  fruit,  and 
miles  of  forest.  He  had  plenty  of  money 
and  everything  that  heart  could  wish.  He 
was  contented  and  happy.  One  evening  a 
priest  of  Buddha  visited  him,  and,  sitting  be- 
fore the  fire,  explained  to  him  how  the  world 
was  made,  and  how  the  first  beams  of  sun- 
light condensed  on  the  earth’s  surface  into 
diamonds. 

The  old  priest  told  that  a drop  of  sunlight 
the  size  of  his  thumb  was  worth  more  than 
large  mines  of  copper,  silver,  or  gold ; that 


OPPORTUNITIES 


193 


with  one  of  them  he  could  buy  many  farms 
like  his ; that  with  a handful  he  could  buy  a 
province,  and  with  a mine  of  diamonds  he 
could  purchase  a kingdom.  Ali  Hafed  lis- 
tened, and  was  no  longer  a rich  man.  He 
had  been  touched  with  discontent,  and  with 
that  all  wealth  vanishes.  Early  the  next 
morning  he  woke  the  priest  who  had  been 
the  cause  of  his  unhappiness,  and  anxiously 
asked  him  where  he  could  find  a mine  of  dia- 
monds. “ What  do  you  want  of  diamonds  ? ” 
asked  the  astonished  priest.  “ I want  to  be 
rich  and  place  my  children  on  thrones.”  “ All 
you  have  to  do  is  to  go  and  search  until  you 
find  them,”  said  the  priest.  “ But  where  shall 
I go  ? ” asked  the  poor  farmer.  “ Go  any- 
where, north,  south,  east,  or  west.”  “ How 
shall  I know  when  I have  found  the  place  ? ” 
“ When  you  find  a river  running  over  white 
sands  between  high  mountain  ranges,  in  those 
white  sands  you  will  find  diamonds,”  an- 
swered the  priest. 

The  discontented  man  sold  the  farm  for 
what  he  could  get,  left  his  family  with  a 
neighbor,  took  the  money  he  had  at  interest, 
and  went  to  search  for  the  coveted  treasure. 
Over  the  mountains  of  Arabia,  through  Pal- 
estine and  Egypt,  he  wandered  for  years,  but 


194  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


found  no  diamonds.  When  his  money  was 
all  gone  and  starvation  stared  him  in  the  face, 
ashamed  of  his  folly  and  of  his  rags,  poor 
Ali  Hafed  threw  himself  into  the  tide  and 
was  drowned.  The  man  who  bought  his  farm 
was  a contented  man,  who  made  the  most  of 
his  surroundings,  and  did  not  believe  in  going 
away  from  home  to  hunt  for  diamonds  or 
success.  While  his  camel  was  drinking  in  the 
garden  one  day,  he  noticed  a flash  of  light 
from  the  white  sands  of  the  brook.  He  picked 
up  a pebble,  and  pleased  with  its  brilliant 
hues  took  it  into  the  house,  put  it  on  the 
shelf  near  the  fireplace,  and  forgot  all  about 
it. 

The  old  priest  of  Buddha  who  had  filled 
Ali  Hafed  with  the  fatal  discontent  called  one 
day  upon  the  new  owner  of  the  farm.  He 
had  no  sooner  entered  the  room  than  his  eye 
caught  that  flash  of  light  from  the  stone. 
“ Here’s  a diamond ! here’s  a diamond ! ” he 
shouted  in  great  excitement.  “ Has  Ali 
Hafed  returned?”  “No,”  said  the  farmer, 
“ nor  is  that  a diamond.  That  is  but  a stone.” 
They  went  into  the  garden  and  stirred  up  the 
white  sand  with  their  fingers,  and  behold, 
other  diamonds  more  beautiful  than  the  first 
gleamed  out  of  it.  So  the  famous  diamond 


OPPORTUNITIES 


195 


beds  of  Golconda  were  discovered.  Had  Ali 
Ha  fed  been  content  to  remain  at  home,  and 
dug  in  his  own  garden,  instead  of  going 
abroad  in  search  for  wealth,  he  would  have 
been  one  of  the  richest  men  in  the  world,  for 
the  entire  farm  abounded  in  the  richest  of 
gems. 

■ You  have  your  own  special  place  and  work. 
Find  it,  fill  it.  Scarcely  a boy  or  girl  will 
read  these  lines  but  has  much  better  oppor- 
tunity to  win  success  than  Garfield,  Wilson, 
Franklin,  Lincoln,  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe, 
Frances  Willard,  and  thousands  of  others  had. 
But  to  succeed  you  must  be  prepared  to  seize 
and  improve  the  opportunity  when  it  comes. 

VRemember  that  four  things  come  not  back: 
the  spoken  word,  the  sped  arrow,  the  past 
life,  and  the  neglected  opportunity. 

It  is  one  of  the  paradoxes  of  civilization 
that  the  more  opportunities  are  utilized,  the 
more  new  ones  are  thereby  created.  New 
openings  are  as  easy  to  find  as  ever  to  those 
who  do  their  best ; although  it  is  not  so  easy 
as  formerly  to  obtain  great  distinction  in  the 
old  lines,  because  the  standard  has  advanced 
so  much  and  competition  has  so  greatly  in- 
creased. “ The  world  is  no  longer  clay,”  said 
Emerson,  “ but  rather  iron  in  the  hands  of  its 


196  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


workers,  and  men  have  got  to  hammer  out  a 
place  for  themselves  by  steady  and  rugged 
blows.” 

Thousands  of  men  have  made  fortunes  out 
of  trifles  which  others  pass  by.  As  the  bee 
gets  honey  from  the  same  flower  from  which 
the  spider  gets  poison,  so  some  men  will  get 
a fortune  out  of  the  commonest  and  meanest 
things,  as  scraps  of  leather,  cotton  waste,  slag, 
iron  filings,  from  which  others  get  only  pov- 
erty and  failure.  There  is  scarcely  a thing 
which  contributes  to  the  welfare  and  comfort 
of  humanity,  scarcely  an  article  of  household 
furniture,  a kitchen  utensil,  an  article  of 
clothing  or  of  food,  that  is  not  capable  of  an 
improvement  in  which  there  may  be  a for- 
tune. 

Opportunities?  They  are  all  around  us. 
Forces  of  nature  plead  to  be  used  in  the 
service  of  man,  as  lightning  for  ages  tried  to 
attract  his  attention  to  the  great  force  of  elec- 
tricity, which  would  do  his  drudgery  and  leave 
him  to  develop  the  God-given  powers  within 
him.  There  is  power  lying  latent  everywhere 
waiting  for  the  observant  eye  to  discover  it. 

First  find  out  what  the  world  needs  and 
then  supply  the  want.  An  invention  to  make 
smoke  go  the  wron^  way  in  a chimney  might 


OPPORTUNITIES 


197 


be  a very  ingenious  thing,  but  it  would  be  of 
no  use  to  humanity.  The  patent  office  at 
Washington  is  full  of  wonderful  devices  of 
ingenious  mechanism,  but  not  one  in  hundreds 
is  of  use  to  the  inventor  or  to  the  world. 
And  yet  how  many  families  have  been  impov- 
erished, and  have  struggled  for  years  amid 
want  and  woe,  while  the  father  has  been 
working  on  useless  inventions.  A.  T.  Stew- 
art, as  a boy,  lost  eighty-seven  cents,  when  his 
capital  was  one  dollar  and  a half,  in  buying 
buttons  and  thread  which  shoppers  did  not 
call  for.  After  that  he  made  it  a rule  never 
to  buy  anything  which  the  public  did  not 
want,  and  so  prospered. 

An  observing  man,  the  eyelets  of  whose 
shoes  pulled  out,  but  who  could  not  afford  to 
get  another  pair,  said  to  himself,  “ I will  make 
a metallic  lacing  hook,  which  can  be  riveted 
into  the  leather.”  He  was  then  so  poor  that 
he  had  to  borrow  a sickle  to  cut  grass  in 
front  of  his  hired  tenement.  He  became  a 
very  rich  man. 

An  observing  barber  in  Newark,  N.  J., 
thought  he  could  make  an  improvement  on 
shears  for  cutting  hair,  invented  clippers,  and 
became  rich.  A Maine  man  was  called  in 
from  the  hayfield  to  wash  clothes  for  his  in- 


198  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


valid  wife.  He  had  never  realized  what  it 
was  to  wash  before.  Finding  the  method  slow 
and  laborious,  he  invented  the  washing  rha- 
chine,  and  made  a fortune.  A man  who  was 
suffering  terribly  with  toothache  felt  sure 
there  must  be  some  way  of  filling  teeth  which 
would  prevent  their  aching  and  he  invented 
the  method  of  gold  filling  for  teeth. 

The  great  things  of  the  world  have  not  been 
done  by  men  of  large  means.  Ericsson  began 
the  construction  of  the  screw  propellers  in  a 
bathroom.  The  cotton-gin  was  first  manu- 
factured in  a log  cabin.  John  Harrison,  the 
great  inventor  of  the  marine  chronometer,  be- 
gan his  career  in  the  loft  of  an  old  barn. 
Parts  of  the  first  steamboat  ever  run  in 
America  were  set  up  in  the  vestry  of  a church 
in  Philadelphia  by  Fitch.  McCormick  began 
to  make  his  famous  reaper  in  a gristmill. 
The  first  model  dry-dock  was  made  in  an 
attic.  Clark,  the  founder  of  Clark  University 
of  Worcester,  Mass.,  began  his  great  fortune 
by  making  toy  wagons  in  a horse  shed.  Far- 
quhar  made  umbrellas  in  his  sitting-room, 
with  his  daughter’s  help,  until  he  sold  enough 
to  hire  a loft.  Edison  began  his  experiments 
in  a baggage  car  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Rail- 
road when  a newsboy. 


OPPORTUNITIES 


199 


Michael  Angelo  found  a piece  of  discarded 
Carrara  marble  among  waste  rubbish  beside 
a street  in  Florence,  which  some  unskilful 
workman  had  cut,  hacked,  spoiled,  and  thrown 
away.  No  doubt  many  artists  had  noticed 
the  fine  quality  of  the  marble,  and  regretted 
that  it  should  have  been  spoiled.  But  Michael 
Angelo  still  saw  an  angel  in  the  ruin,  and 
with  his  chisel  and  mallet  he  called  out  from 
it  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  statuary  in 
Italy,  the  young  David. 

Patrick  Henry  was  called  a lazy  boy,  a 
good-for-nothing  farmer,  and  he  failed  as  a 
merchant.  He  was  always  dreaming  of  some 
far-off  greatness,  and  never  thought  he  could 
be  a hero  among  the  corn  and  tobacco  and 
saddlebags  of  Virginia.  He  studied  law  for 
six  weeks ; when  he  put  out  his  shingle. 
People  thought  he  would  fail,  but  in  his  first 
case  he  showed  that  he  had  a wonderful 
power  of  oratory.  It  then  first  dawned  upon 
him  that  he  could  be  a hero  in  Virginia.  From 
the  time  the  Stamp  Act  was  passed  and 
Henry  was  elected  to  the  Virginia  House  of 
Burgesses,  and  he  had  introduced  his  famous 
resolution  against  the  unjust  taxation  of  the 
American  colonies,  he  rose  steadily  until  he 
became  one  of  the  brilliant  orators  of  Amer- 


200  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


ica.  In  one  of  his  first  speeches  upon  this 
resolution  he  uttered  these  words,  which  were 
prophetic  of  his  power  and  courage : “ Caesar 
had  his  Brutus,  Charles  the  First  his  Crom- 
well, and  George  the  Third — may  profit  by 
their  example.  If  this  be  treason,  make  the 
most  of  it.” 

The  great  natural  philosopher,  Faraday, 
who  was  the  son  of  a blacksmith,  wrote,  when 
a young  man,  to  Humphry  Davy,  asking  for 
employment  at  the  Royal  Institution.  Davy 
consulted  a friend  on  the  matter.  “ Here  is  a 
letter  from  a young  man  named  Faraday;  he 
has  been  attending  my  lectures,  and  wants 
me  to  give  him  employment  at  the  Royal  In- 
stitution— what  can  I do  ? ” “ Do  ? put  him  to 
washing  bottles ; if  he  is  good  for  anything 
he  will  do  it  directly;  if  he  refuses  he  is  good 
for  nothing.”  But  the  boy  who  could  experi- 
ment in  the  attic  of  an  apothecar}'^  shop  with 
an  old  pan  and  glass  vials  during  every  mo- 
ment he  could  snatch  from  his  work  saw  an 
opportunity  in  washing  bottles,  which  led  to 
a professorship  at  the  Royal  Academy  at 
Woolwich.  Tyndall  said  of  this  boy  with  no 
chance,  “ He  is  the  greatest  experimental  phi- 
losopher the  world  has  ever  seen.”  He  be- 
came the  wonder  of  his  age  in  science. 


OPPORTUNITIES 


201 


There  is  a legend  of  an  artist  who  long 
sought  for  a piece  of  sandalwood,  out  of 
which  to  carve  a Madonna.  He  was  about  to 
give  up  in  despair,  leaving  the  vision  of  his 
life  unrealized,  when  in  a dream  he  was  bid- 
den to  carve  his  Madonna  from  a block  of 
oak  wood  which  was  destined  for  the  fire. 
He  obeyed,  and  produced  a masterpiece  from 
a log  of  common  firewood.  Many  of  us  lose 
great  opportunities  in  life  by  waiting  to  find 
sandalwood  for  our  carvings,  when  they 
really  lie  hidden  in  the  common  logs  that  we 
burn.  One  man  goes  through  life  without 
seeing  chances  for  doing  anything  great, 
while  another  close  beside  him  snatches  from 
the  same  circumstances  and  privileges  oppor- 
tunities for  achieving  grand  results. 

Opportunities?  They  are  everywhere. 
“ America  is  another  name  for  opportunities. 
Our  whole  history  appears  like  a last  effort 
of  divine  Providence  in  behalf  of  the  human 
race.”  Never  before  were  there  such  grand 
openings,  such  chances,  such  opportunities.; 
Especially  is  this  true  for  girls  and  young 
women.  A new  era  is  dawning  for  them. 
Hundreds  of  occupations  and  professions, 
which  were  closed  to  them  only  a few  years 
ago,  are  now  inviting  them  to  enter. 


202  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


We  can  not  all  of  us  perhaps  make  great 
discoveries  like  Newton,  Faraday,  Edison,  and 
Thompson,  or  paint  immortal  pictures  like  an 
Angelo  or  a Raphael.  But  we  can  all  of  us 
make  our  lives  sublime,  by  seising  common 
occasions  and  making  them  great.  What 
chance  had  the  young  girl,  Grace  Darling,  to 
distinguish  herself,  living  on  those  barren 
lighthouse  rocks  alone  with  her  aged  parents? 
But  while  her  brothers  and  sisters,  who  moved 
to  the  cities  to  win  wealth  and  fame,  are  not 
known  to  the  world,  she  became  more  famous 
than  a princess.  This  poor  girl  did  not  need 
to  go  to  London  to  see  the  nobility ; they 
came  to  the  lighthouse  to  see  her.  Right  at 
home  she  had  won  fame  which  the  regal  heirs 
might  envy,  and  a name  which  will  never  per- 
ish from  the  earth.  She  did  not  wander  away 
into  dreamy  distance  for  fame  and  fortune, 
but  did  her  best  where  duty  had  placed  her. 

If  you  want  to  get  rich,  study  yourself  and 
your  own  wants.  You  will  find  that  millions 
have  the  same  wants.  The  safest  business  is 
always  connected  with  man’s  prime  necessi- 
ties. He  must  have  clothing  and  a dwelling; 
he  must  eat.  He  wants  comforts,  facilities 
of  all  kinds  for  pleasure,  education,  and  cul- 
ture. Any  man  who  can  supply  a great  want 


OPPORTUNITIES 


203 


of  humanity,  improve  any  methods  which 
men  use,  supply  any  demand  of  comfort,  or 
contribute  in  any  way  to  their  well-being, 
can  make  a fortune. 

“The  golden  opportunity 
Is  never  offered  twice;  seize  then  the  hour 
When  Fortune  smiles  and  Duty  points  the  way.’’ 

Why  thus  longing,  thus  forever  sighing. 

For  the  far-off,  unattained  and  dim, 

While  the  beautiful,  all  around  thee  lying 
Offers  up  its  low,  perpetual  hymn? 

Harriet  Winslov/ 


XL  THE  MIGHT  OF  LITTLE  THINGS 


Think  naught  a trifle,  though  it  small  appear; 

Small  sands  the  mountain,  moments  make  the  year, 
And  trifles,  life.  Young. 

It  is  but  the  littleness  of  man  that  sees  no  great- 
ness in  trifles. — Wenoell  Phillips. 

He  that  despiseth  small  things  shall  fall  by  little 
and  little. — Ecclesiasticus. 

The  creation  of  a thousand  forests  is  in  one 
acorn. — Emerson. 

Men  are  led  by  trifles. — Napoleon. 

“ A pebble  on  the  streamlet  scant 
Has  turned  the  course  of  many  a river.” 

“ The  bad  thing  about  a little  sin  is  that  it  won’t 
stay  little.” 


RLETTA’S  pretty  feet,  glis- 
tening in  the  brook,  made  her 
the  mother  of  William  the 
Conqueror,”  says  Palgrave’s 
“ History  of  Normandy  and 
England.”  ” Had  she  not 
thus  fascinated  Duke  Robert  the  Liberal,  of 
Normandy,  Harold  would  not  have  fallen  at 
Hastings,  no  Anglo-Norman  dynasty  could 
have  arisen,  no  British  Empire.” 

204 


THE  MIGHT  OF  LITTLE  THINGS  205 


We  may  tell  which  way  the  wind  blew  be- 
fore the  Deluge  by  marking  the  ripple  and 
cupping  of  the  rain  in  the  petrified  sand  now 
preserved  forever.  We  tell  the  very  path  by 
which  gigantic  creatures,  whom  man  never 
saw,  walked  to  the  river’s  edge  to  find  their 
food. 

It  was  little  Greece  that  rolled  back  the 
overflowing  tide  of  Asiatic  luxury  and  despot- 
ism, giving  instead  to  Europe  and  America 
models  of  the  highest  political  freedom  yet 
attained,  and  germs  of  limitless  mental 
growth.  A different  result  at  Platsea  would 
have  delayed  the  progress  of  the  human  race 
more  than  ten  centuries. 

Among  the  lofty  Alps,  it  is  said,  the  guides 
sometimes  demand  absolute  silence,  lest  the 
vibration  of  the  voice  bring  down  an  ava- 
lanche. 

The  power  of  observation  in  the  American 
Indian  would  put  many  an  educated  man  to 
shame.  Returning  home,  an  Indian  discov- 
ered that  his  venison,  which  had  been  hanging 
up  to  dry,  had  been  stolen.  After  careful  ob- 
servation he  started  to  track  the  thief  through 
the  woods.  Meeting  a man  on  the  route,  he 
asked  him  if  he  had  seen  a little,  old,  white 
man,  with  a short  gun,  and  with  a small  bob- 


2o6  rising  in  the  WORLD 


tailed  dog.  The  man  told  him  he  had  met 
such  a man,  but  was  surprised  to  find  that  the 
Indian  had  not  even  seen  the  one  he  de- 
scribed, and  asked  him  how  he  could  give 
such  a minute  description  of  the  man  he  had 
never  seen.  “ I knew  the  thief  was  a little 
man,”  said  the  Indian,  “ because  he  rolled  up 
a stone  to  stand  on  in  order  to  reach  the 
venison ; I knew  he  was  an  old  man  by  his 
short  steps ; I knew  he  was  a white  man  by 
his  turning  out  his  toes  in  walking,  which 
an  Indian  never  does ; I knew  he  had  a short 
gun  by  the  mark  it  left  on  the  tree  where  he 
had  stood  it  up ; I knew  the  dog  was  small  by 
his  tracks  and  short  steps,  and  that  he  had 
a bob-tail  by  the  mark  it  left  in  the  dust 
where  he  sat.” 

Two  drops  of  rain,  falling  side  by  side, 
were  separated  a few  inches  by  a gentle 
breeze.  Striking  on  opposite  sides  of  the  roof 
of  a court-house  in  Wisconsin,  one  rolled 
southward  through  the  Rock  River  and  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ; while  the 
other  entered  successively  the  Fox  River, 
Green  Bay,  Lake  Michigan,  the  Straits  of 
Mackinaw,  Lake  Huron,  St.  Clair  River,  Lake 
St.  Clair,  Detroit  River,  Lake  Erie,  Niagara 


THE  MIGHT  OF  LITTLE  THINGS  207 


River,  Lake  Ontario,  the  St.  Lawrence  River, 
and  finally  reached  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 
How  slight  the  influence  of  the  breeze,  yet 
such  was  the  formation  of  the  continent  that 
a trifling  cause  was  multiplied  almost  beyond 
the  power  of  figures  to  express  its  momentous 
effect  upon  the  destinies  of  these  companion 
raindrops.  Who  can  calculate  the  future  of 
the  smallest  trifle  when  a mud  crack  swells 
to  an  Amazon  and  the  stealing  of  a penny 
may  end  on  the  scaffold?  The  act  of  a mo- 
ment may  cause  a life’s  regret.  A trigger 
may  be  pulled  in  an  instant,  but  the  soul  re- 
turns never. 

A spark  falling  upon  some  combustibles  led 
to  the  invention  of  gunpowder.  A few  bits 
of  seaweed  and  driftwood,  floating  on'  the 
* waves,  enabled  Columbus  to  stay  a mutiny  of 
his  sailors  which  threatened  to  prevent  the 
discovery  of  a new  world.  There  are  mo- 
ments in  history  which  balance  years  of  or- 
dinary life.  Dana  could  interest  a class  for 
hours  on  a grain  of  sand ; and  from  a single 
bone,  such  as  no  one  had  ever  seen  before, 
Agassiz  could  deduce  the  entire  structure  and 
habits  of  an  animal  which  no  man  had  ever 
seen  so  accurately  that  subsequent  discov- 


2o8  rising  in  the  WORLD 


cries  of  complete  skeletons  have  not  changed 
one  of  his  conclusions. 

A cricket  once  saved  a military  expedition 
from  destruction.  The  commanding  officer 
and  hundreds  of  his  men  were  going  to  South 
America  on  a great  ship,  and,  through  the 
carelessness  of  the  watch,  they  would  have 
been  dashed  upon  a ledge  of  rock  had  it  not 
been  for  a cricket  which  a soldier  had  brought 
on  board.  When  the  little  insect  scented  the 
land,  it  broke  its  long  silence  by  a shrill  note, 
and  thus  warned  them  of  their  danger. 

By  gnawing  through  a dike,  even  a rat 
may  drown  a nation.  A little  boy  in  Holland 
saw  water  trickling  from  a small  hole  near 
the  bottom  of  a dike.  He  realized  that  the 
leak  would  rapidly  become  larger  if  the  water 
were  not  checked,  so  he  held  his  hand  over 
the  hole  for  hours  on  a dark  and  dismal  night 
until  he  could  attract  the  attention  of  passers- 
by.  His  name  is  still  held  in  grateful  remem- 
brance in  Holland. 

The  beetling  chalk  cliffs  of  England  were 
built  by  rhizopods,  too  small  to  be  clearly 
seen  without  the  aid  of  a magnifying-glass. 

What  was  so  unlikely  as  that  throwing  an 
empty  wine-flask  in  the  fire  should  furnish  the 
first  notion  of  a locomotive,  or  that  the  sick- 


THE  MIGHT  OF  LITTLE  THINGS  209 


ness  of  an  Italian  chemist’s  wife  and  her 
absurd  craving  for  reptiles  for  food  should 
begin  the  electric  telegraph?  Madame  Gal- 
vani  noticed  the  contraction  of  the  muscles 
of  a skinned  frog  which  was  accidentally 
touched  at  the  moment  her  husband  took  a 
spark  from  an  electrical  machine.  She  gave 
the  hint  which  led  to  the  'discovery  of  gal- 
vanic electricity,  now  so  useful  in  the  arts 
and  in  transmitting  vocal  or  written  lan- 
guage. 

“ The  fate  of  a nation,”  says  Gladstone, 
“ has  often  depended  upon  the  good  or  bad 
digestion  of  a fine  dinner.” 

A stamp  act  to  raise  £60,000  produced  the 
American  Revolution,  a war  that  cost  Eng- 
land £100,000,000.  A war  between  France 
and’  England,  costing  more  than  a hundred 
thousand  lives,  grew  out  of  a quarrel  as  to 
which  of  two  vessels  should  first  be  served 
with  water.  The  quarrel  of  two  Indian  boys 
over  a grasshopper  led  to  the  “ Grasshopper 
War.”  What  mighty  contests  rise  from  triv- 
ial things ! 

A young  man  once  went  to  India  to  seek 
his  fortune,  but,  finding  no  opening,  he  went 
to  his  room,  loaded  his  pistol,  put  the  muzzle 
to  his  head,  and  pulled  the  trigger.  But  it 


210  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


did  not  go  off.  He  went  to  the  window  to 
point  it  in  another  direction  and  try  it  again, 
resolved  that  if  the  weapon  went  off  he  would 
regard  it  as  a Providence  that  he  was  spared. 
He  pulled  the  trigger  and  it  went  off  the  first 
time.  Trembling  with  excitement  he  resolved 
to  hold  his  life  sacred,  to  make  the  most  of 
it,  and  never  again  to  cheapen  it.  This  young 
man  became  General  Robert  Clive,  who,  with 
but  a handful  of  European  soldiers,  secured 
to  the  East  India  Company  and  afterwards  to 
Great  Britain  a great  and  rich  country  with 
two  hundred  millions  of  people. 

The  cackling  of  a goose  aroused  the  sen- 
tinels and  saved  Rome  from  the  Gauls,  and 
the  pain  from  a thistle  warned  a Scottish 
army  of  the  approach  of  the  Danes. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  came  within  one  vote 
of  being  elected  superintendent  of  a railway. 
If  he  had  had  that  vote  America  would  prob- 
ably have  lost  its  greatest  preacher.  What 
a little  thing  fixes  destiny ! 

Trifles  light  as  air  often  suggest  to  the 
thinking  mind  ideas  which  have  revolutionized 
the  world. 

A famous  ruby  was  offered  to  the  English 
government.  The  report  of  the  crown  jeweler 
was  that  it  was  the  finest  he  had  ever  seen  or 


THE  MIGHT  OF  LITTLE  THINGS  21 1 


heard  of,  but  that  one  of  the  “ facets  ” was 
slightly  fractured.  That  invisible  fracture  re- 
duced the  value  of  the  ruby  thousands  of 
dollars,  and  it  was  rejected  from  the  regalia 
of  England. 

It  was  a little  thing  for  the  janitor  to  leave 
a lamp  swinging  in  the  cathedral  at  Pisa,  but 
in  that  steady  swaying  motion  the  boy  Galileo 
saw  the  pendulum,  and  conceived  the  idea  of 
thus  measuring  time. 

“ I was  singing  to  the  mouthpiece  of  a tele- 
phone,” said  Edison,  “ when  the  vibrations  of 
my  voice  caused  a fine  steel  point  to  pierce 
one  of  my  fingers  held  just  behind  it.  That 
set  me  to  thinking.  If  I could  record  the  mo- 
tions of  the  point  and  send  it  over  the  same 
surface  afterward,  I saw  no  reason  why  the 
thing  would  not  talk.  I determined  to  make 
a machine  that  would  work  accurately,  and 
gave  my  assistants  the  necessary  instructions, 
telling  them  what  I had  discovered.  That’s 
the  whole  story.  The  phonograph  is  the  re- 
sult of  the  pricking  of  a finger.” 

It  was  a little  thing  for  a cow  to  kick  over 
a lantern  left  in  a shanty,  but  it  laid  Chicago 
in  ashes,  and  rendered  homeless  a hundred 
thousand  people. 

Some  little  weakness,  some  self-indulgence. 


212  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


a quick  temper,  want  of  decision,  are  little 
things,  you  say,  when  placed  beside  great 
abilities,  but  they  have  wrecked  many  a ca- 
reer. 

The  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States,  and  representative 
governments  all  over  the  world  have  come 
from  King  John  signing  the  Magna  Charta. 

Bentham  says,  “ The  turn  of  a sentence  has 
decided  many  a friendship,  and,  for  aught  we 
know,  the  fate  of  many  a kingdom.”  Per- 
haps you  turned  a cold  shoulder  but  once, 
and  made  but  one  stinging  remark,  yet  it 
may  have  cost  you  a friend  forever. 

The  sight  of  a stranded  cuttlefish  led  Cu- 
vier to  an  investigation  which  made  him  one 
of  the  greatest  natural  historians  in  the  world. 
The  web  of  a spider  suggested  to  Captain 
Brown  the  idea  of  a suspension  bridge. 

A missing  marriage  certificate  kept  the  hod- 
carrier  of  Hugh  Miller  from  establishing  his 
claim  to  the  Earldom  of  Crawford.  The  ma- 
sons would  call  out,  “John,  Yearl  of  Craw- 
ford, bring  us  anither  hod  o’  lime.” 

The  absence  of  a comma  in  a bill  which 
passed  through  Congress  years  ago  cost  our 
government  a million  dollars.  A single  mis- 
spelled word  prevented  a deserving  young  man 


THE  MIGHT  OF  LITTLE  THINGS  213 


from  obtaining  a situation  as  instructor  in  a 
New  England  college. 

“ I can  not  see  that  you  have  made  any 
progress  since  my  last  visit,”  said  a gentleman 
to  Michael  Angelo.  “ But,”  said  the  sculp- 
tor, “ I have  retouched  this  part,  polished  that, 
softened  that  feature,  brought  out  that  mus- 
cle, given  some  expression  to  this  lip,  more 
energy  to  that  limb,  etc.”  “ But  they  are 
trifles ! ” exclaimed  the  visitor.  “ It  may  be 
so,”  replied  the  great  artist,  “ but  trifles 
make  perfection,  and  perfection  is  no  trifle.” 
That  infinite  patience  which  made  Michael 
Angelo  spend  a week  in  bringing  out  a muscle 
in  a statue  with  more  vital  fidelity  to  truth, 
or  Gerhard  Dow  a day  in  giving  the  right 
effect  to  a dewdrop  on  a cabbage  leaf,  makes 
all  the  difference  between  success  and  fail- 
ure. 

The  cry  of  the  infant  Moses  attracted  the 
attention  of  Pharaoh’s  daughter,  and  gave  the 
Jews  a lawgiver.  A bird  alighting  on  the 
bough  of  a tree  at  the  mouth  of  the  cave 
where  Mahomet  lay  hid  turned  aside  his  pur- 
suers, and  gave  a prophet  to  many  nations.  A 
flight  of  birds  probably  prevented  Columbus 
from  discovering  this  continent.  When  he 
was  growing  anxious,  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon 


214  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


persuaded  him  to  follow  a flight  of  parrots 
toward  the  southwest ; for  to  the  Spanish  sea- 
men of  that  day  it  was  good  luck  to  follow  in 
the  wake  of  a flock  of  birds  when  on  a voyage 
of  discovery.  But  for  his  change  of  course 
Columbus  would  have  reached  the  coast  of 
Florida.  “Never,”  wrote  Humboldt,  “had 
the  flight  of  birds  more  important  conse- 
quences.” 

The  children  of  a spectacle-maker  placed 
two  or  more  pairs  of  the  spectacles  before 
each  other  in  play,  and  told  their  father  that 
distant  objects  looked  larger.  From  this  hint 
came  the  telescope. 

Every  day  is  a little  life ; and  our  whole  life 
but  a day  repeated.  Those  that  dare  lose  a 
day  are  dangerously  prodigal ; those  that  dare 
misspend  it,  desperate.  What  is  the  happi- 
ness of  your  life  made  up  of?  Little  cour- 
tesies, little  kindnesses,  pleasant  words,  genial 
smiles,  a friendly  letter,  good  wishes,  and 
good  deeds.  One  in  a million — once  in  a life- 
time— may  do  a heroic  action. 

Napoleon  was  a master  of  trifles.  To  de- 
tails which  his  inferior  officers  thought  too 
microscopic  for  their  notice  he  gave  the  most 
exhaustive  consideration.  Nothing  w'as  too 
small  for  his  attention.  He  must  know  all 


THE  MIGHT  OF  LITTLE  THINGS  215 


about  the  provisions,  the  horse  fodder,  the 
biscuits,  the  camp  kettles,  the  shoes.  When 
the  bugle  sounded  for  the  march  to  battle, 
every  officer  had  his  orders  as  to  the  exact 
route  which  he  should  follow,  the  exact  day 
he  was  to  arrive  at  a certain  station,  and 
the  exact  hour  he  was  to  leave,  and  they 
were  all  to  reach  the  point  of  destination 
at  a precise  moment.  It  is  said  that  noth- 
ing could  be  more  perfectly  planned  than 
his  memorable  march  which  led  to  the 
victory  of  Austerlitz,  and  which  sealed  the 
fate  of  Europe  for  many  years.  He  would 
often  charge  his  absent  officers  to  send  him 
perfectly  accurate  returns,  even  to  the  small- 
est detail.  “ When  they  are  sent  to  me,  I 
give  up  every  occupation  in  order  to  read 
them  in  detail,  and  to  observe  the  difference 
between  one  monthly  return  and  another.  No 
young  girl  enjoys  her  novel  as  much  as  I do 
these  returns.”  Napoleon  left  nothing  to 
chance,  nothing  to  contingency,  so  far  as  he 
could  possibly  avoid  it.  Everything  was 
planned  to  a nicety  before  he  attempted  to 
execute  it. 

Wellington,  too,  was  “ great  in  little  things.” 
He  knew  no  such  things  as  trifles.  While 
other  generals  trusted  to  subordinates,  he 


2i6  rising  in  the  WORLD 


gave  his  personal  attention  to  the  minutest  de- 
tail. The  history  of  many  a failure  could  be 
written  in  three  words,  “ Lack  of  detail.” 
How  many  a lawyer  has  failed  from  the  lack 
of  details  in  deeds  and  important  papers,  the 
lack  of  little  words  which  seemed  like  sur- 
plusage, and  which  involved  his  clients  in  liti- 
gation, and  often  great  losses ! How  many 
wills  are  contested  from  the  carelessness  of 
lawyers  in  the  omission  or  shading  of  words, 
or  ambiguous  use  of  language ! 

Not  even  Helen  of  Troy,  it  is  said,  was 
beautiful  enough  to  spare  the  tip  of  her  nose ; 
and  if  Cleopatra’s  had  been  an  inch  shorter 
Mark  Antony  might  never  have  become  in- 
fatuated with  her  wonderful  charms,  and  the 
blemish  would  have  changed  the  history  of 
the  world.  Anne  Boleyn’s  fascinating  smile 
split  the  great  Church  of  Rome  in  twain,  and 
gave  a nation  an  altered  destiny.  Napoleon, 
who  feared  not  to  attack  the  proudest  mon- 
archs  in  their  capitols,  shrank  from  the  polit- 
ical influence  of  one  independent  woman  in 
private  life,  Madame  de  StaH. 

Cromwell  was  about  to  sail  for  America 
when  a law  was  passed  prohibiting  emigra- 
tion. At  that  time  he  was  a profligate,  hav- 
ing squandered  all  his  property.  But  when  he 


THE  MIGHT  OF  LITTLE  THINGS  217 


found  that  he  could  not  leave  England  he  re- 
formed his  life.  Had  he  not  been  detained, 
who  can  tell  what  the  history  of  Great  Britain 
would  have  been? 

From  the  careful  and  persistent  accumula- 
tion of  innumerable  facts,  each  trivial  in  it- 
self, but  in  the  aggregate  forming  a mass  of 
evidence,  a Darwin  extracts  his  law  of  evo- 
lution, and  a Linnaeus  constructs  the  science 
of  botany.  A pan  of  water  and  two  thermom- 
eters were  the  tools  by  which  Dr.  Black  dis- 
covered latent  heat;  and  a prism,  a lens,  and 
a sheet  of  pasteboard  enabled  Newton  to  un- 
fold the  composition  of  light  and  the  origin 
of  colors.  An  eminent  foreign  savant  called 
on  Dr.  Wollaston,  and  asked  to  uc  suown  over 
those  laboratories  of  his  in  which  science  had 
been  enriched  by  so  many  great  discoveries, 
when  the  doctor  took  him  into  a little  study, 
and,  pointing  to  an  old  tea  tray  on  the  table, 
on  which  stood  a few  watch  glasses,  test  pa- 
pers, a small  balance,  and  a blow-pipe,  said, 
“ There  is  my  laboratory.”  A burnt  stick  and 
a barn  door  served  Wilkie  in  lieu  of  pencil 
and  paper.  A single  potato,  carried  to  Eng- 
land by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  has  multiplied  into  food  for  millions, 
driving  famine  from  Ireland  again  and  again. 


2i8  rising  in  the  WORLD 


It  seemed  a small  thing  to  drive  William 
Brewster,  John  Robinson,  and  the  poor  people 
of  Austerfield  and  Scrooby  into  perpetual  ex- 
ile, but  as  Pilgrims  they  became  the  founders 
of  a mighty  people. 

A few  immortal  sentences  from  Garrison 
and  Phillips,  a few  poems  from  Lowell  and 
Whittier,  and  the  leaven  is  at  work  which  will 
not  cease  its  action  until  the  whipping-post 
and  bodily  servitude  are  abolished  forever. 

“ For  want  of  a nail  the  shoe  was  lost, 

For  want  of  a shoe  the  horse  was  lost; 

For  want  of  a horse  the  rider  was  lost,  and  all,” 

says  Poor  Richard,  “ for  want  of  a horse- 
shoe nail.” 

A single  remark  dropped  by  an  unknown 
person  in  the  street  led  to  the  successful  story 
of  “ The  Breadwinners.”  A hymn  chanted 
by  the  barefooted  friars  in  the  temple  of  Ju- 
piter at  Rome  led  to  the  famous  “ Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.” 

“ Words  are  things  ” says  Byron,  “ and  a 
small  drop  of  ink,  falling  like  dew  upon  a 
thought,  produces  that  which  makes  thou- 
sands, perhaps  millions,  think.” 

“ I give  these  books  for  the  founding  of  a 
college  in  this  colony  ” ; such  were  the  words 


THE  MIGHT  OF  LITTLE  THINGS  219 


of  ten  ministers  who  in  the  year  1700  assem- 
bled at  the  village  of  Branford,  a few  miles 
east  of  New  Haven.  Each  of  the  worthy 
fathers  deposited  a few  books  upon  the  table 
around  which  they  were  sitting;  such  was  the 
founding  of  Yale  College. 

Great  men  are  noted  for  their  attention  to 
trifles.  Goethe  once  asked  a monarch  to  ex- 
cuse him,  during  an  interview,  while  he  went 
to  an  adjoining  room  to  jot  down  a stray 
thought.  Hogarth  would  make  sketches  of 
rare  faces  and  characteristics  upon  his  finger- 
nails upon  the  streets.  Indeed,  to  a truly 
great  mind  there  are  no  little  things.  Trifles 
light  as  air  suggest  to  the  keen  observer  the 
solution  of  mighty  problems.  Bits  of  glass 
arranged  to  amuse  children  led  to  the  discov- 
ery of  the  kaleidoscope.  Goodyear  discovered 
how  to  vulcanize  rubber  by  forgetting,  until 
it  became  red  hot,  a skillet  containing  a com- 
pound which  he  had  before  considered  worth- 
less. A ship-worm  boring  a piece  of  wood 
suggested  to  Sir  Isambard  Brunei  the  idea  of 
a tunnel  under  the  Thames  at  London.  Tracks 
of  extinct  animals  in  the  old  red  sandstone 
led  Hugh  Miller  on  and  on  until  he  became 
the  greatest  geologist  of  his  time.  Sir  Wal- 
ter Scott  once  saw  a shepherd  boy  plodding 


220  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


sturdily  along,  and  asked  him  to  ride.  This 
boy  was  George  Kemp,  who  became  so  en- 
thusiastic in  his  study  of  sculpture  that  he 
walked  fifty  miles  and  back  to  see  a beautiful 
statue.  He  did  not  forget  the  kindness  of 
Sir  Walter,  and,  when  the  latter  died,  threw 
his  soul  into  the  design  of  the  magnificent 
monument  erected  in  Edinburgh  to  the  mem- 
ory of  the  author  of  “ Waverley.” 

A poor  boy  applied  for  a situation  at  a 
bank  in  Paris,  but  was  refused.  As  he  left 
the  door,  he  picked  up  a pin.  The  bank  pres- 
ident saw  this,  called  the  boy  back,  and  gave 
him  a situation  from  which  he  rose  until  he 
became  the  greatest  banker  of  Paris, — 
Laffitte. 

A Massachusetts  soldier  in  the  Civil  War 
observed  a bird  hulling  rice,  and  shot  it;  tak- 
ing its  bill  for  a model,  he  invented  a hulling 
machine  which  has  revolutionized  the  rice 
business. 

The  eye  is  a perpetual  camera  imprinting 
upon  the  sensitive  mental  plates  and  packing 
away  in  the  brain  for  future  use  every  face, 
every  tree,  every  plant,  flower,  hill,  stream, 
mountain,  every  scene  upon  the  street,  in 
fact,  everything  which  comes  within  its 
range.  There  is  a phonograph  in  our  na- 


THE  MIGHT  OF  LITTLE  THINGS  221 


tures  which  catches,  however  thoughtless  and 
transient,  every  syllable  we  utter,  and  regis- 
ters forever  the  slightest  enunciation,  and 
renders  it  immortal.  These  notes  may  ap- 
pear a thousand  years  hence,  reproduced  in 
our  descendants,  in  all  their  beautiful  or  ter- 
rible detail. 

“ Least  of  all  seeds,  greatest  of  all  har- 
vests,” seems  to  be  one  of  the  great  laws  of 
nature.  All  life  comes  from  microscopic  be- 
ginnings. In  nature  there  is  nothing  small. 
The  microscope  reveals  as  great  a world  be- 
low as  the  telescope  above.  All  of  nature’s 
laws  govern  the  smallest  atoms,  and  a single 
drop  of  water  is  a miniature  ocean. 

The  strength  of  a chain  lies  in  its  weakest 
link,  however  large  and  strong  all  the  others 
may  be.  We  are  all  inclined  to  be  proud  of 
our  strong  points,  while  we  are  sensitive  and 
neglectful  of  our  weaknesses.  Yet  it  is  our 
greatest  weakness  which  measures  our  real 
strength. 

A soldier  who  escapes  the  bullets  of  a 
thousand  battles  may  die  from  the  scratch 
of  a pin,  and  many  a ship  has  survived  the 
shocks  of  icebergs  and  the  storms  of  ocean 
only  to  founder  in  a smooth  sea  from  holes 
made  by  tiny  insects. 


222  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Small  things  become  great  when  a great 
soul  sees  them.  A single  noble  or  heroic  act 
of  one  man  has  sometimes  elevated  a nation. 
Many  an  honorable  career  has  resulted  from 
a kind  word  spoken  in  season  or  the  warm 
grasp  of  a friendly  hand. 

It  is  the  little  rift  within  the  lute 

That  by  and  by  will  make  the  music  mute, 

And,  ever  widening,  slowly  silence  all. 

Tennyson. 

“ It  was  only  a glad  ‘ good-morning,’ 

As  she  passed  along  the  way. 

But  it  spread  the  morning’s  glory 
Over  the  livelong  day.” 

“ Only  a thought  in  passing — a smile,  or  encourag- 
ing word, 

Has  lifted  many  a burden  no  other  gift  could 
have  stirred.” 


XII.  NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL 


Though  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly,  yet  they 
grind  exceeding  small ; 

Though  with  patience  He  stands  waiting,  with  exact- 
ness grinds  He  all. 


Frederick  von  Logau. 


Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  exe- 
cuted speedily,  therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of 
men  is  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil. — Ecclesiastes. 

'Man  is  a watch,  wound  up  at  first  but  never 
Wound  up  again;  once  down  he’s  down  forever. 


Herrick. 


Old  age  seizes  upon  an  ill-spent  youth  like  fire 
upon  a rotten  house. — South. 

Last  Sunday  a young  man  died  here  of  extreme 
old  age  at  twenty-five. — John  Newton. 

If  you  will  not  hear  Reason,  she’ll  surely  rap  your 
knuckles. — Poor  Richard's  Sayings. 


oh ! ah ! ” exclaimed 
din ; “ what  have  I 

to  merit  these  cruel 
'e  rings?”  “Many 
s,”  replied  the  Gout ; 
have  eaten  and  drunk 


too  freely,  and  too  much  indulged  those  legs 
of  yours  in  your  indolence.” 

Nature  seldom  presents  her  bill  on  the  day 


223 


224  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


you  violate  her  laws.  But  if  you  overdraw 
your  account  at  her  bank,  and  give  her  a 
mortgage  on  your  body,  be  sure  she  will 
foreclose.  She  may  loan  you  all  you  want ; 
but,  like  Shylock,  she  will  demand  the  last 
ounce  of  flesh.  She  rarely  brings  in  her  can- 
cer bill  before  the  victim  is  forty  years  old. 
She  does  not  often  annoy  a man  with  her 
drink  bill  until  he  is  past  his  prime,  and  then 
presents  it  in  the  form  of  Bright’s  disease, 
fatty  degeneration  of  the  heart,  drunkard’s 
liver,  or  some  similar  disease.  What  you  pay 
the  saloon  keeper  is  but  a small  part  of  your 
score. 

We  often  hear  it  said  that  the  age  of  mir- 
acles is  past.  We  marvel  that  a thief  dying 
on  the  cross  should  appear  that  very  day  in 
Paradise ; but  behold  how  that  bit  of  meat 
or  vegetable  on  a Hawarden  breakfast  table 
is  snatched  from  Death,  transformed  into 
thought,  and  on  the  following  night  shakes 
Parliament  in  the  magnetism  and  oratory  of 
a Gladstone.  The  age  of  miracles  past,  when 
three  times  a day  right  before  our  eyes  Na- 
ture performs  miracles  greater  even  than 
raising  the  dead?  Watch  that  crust  of  bread 
thrown  into  a cell  in  Bedford  Jail  and  de- 
voured by  a poor,  hungry  tinker ; cut. 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  225 


crushed,  ground,  driven  by  muscles,  dis- 
solved by  acids  and  alkalies ; absorbed  and 
hurled  into  the  mysterious  red  river  of  life. 
Scores  of  little  factories  along  this  strange 
stream,  waiting  for  this  crust,  transmute  it 
as  it  passes,  as  if  by  magic,  here  into  a bone 
cell,  there  into  gastric  juice,  here  into  bile, 
there  into  a nerve  cell,  yonder  into  a brain 
cell.  We  can  not  trace  the  processes  by  which 
this  crust  arrives  at  the  muscle  and  acts,  ar- 
rives at  the  brain  and  thinks.  We  can  not  see 
the  manipulating  hand  which  throws  back 
and  forth  the  shuttle  which  weaves  Bunyan’s 
destinies,  nor  can  we  trace  the  subtle  alchemy 
which  transforms  this  prison  crust  into  the 
finest  allegory  in  the  world,  the  Pilgrim’s 
Progress.  But  we  do  know  that,  unless  we 
supply  food  when  the  stomach  begs  and 
clamors,  brain  and  muscle  can  not  continue  to 
act;  and  we  also  know  that  unless  the  food 
is  properly  chosen,  unless  we  eat  it  properly, 
unless  we  maintain  good  digestion  by  exercise 
of  mind  and  body,  it  will  not  produce  the 
speeches  of  a Gladstone  or  the  allegories  of 
a Bunyan. 

Truly  we  are  fearfully  and  wonderfully 
made.  Imagine  a cistern  which  would  trans- 
form the  foul  sewage  of  a city  into  pure 


226  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


drinking  water  in  a second’s  time,  as  the 
black  venous  blood,  foul  with  the  ashes  of 
burned-up  brain  cells  and  debris  of  worn-out 
tissues,  is  transformed  in  the  lungs,  at  every 
breath,  into  pure,  bright,  red  blood.  Each  drop 
of  blood  from  that  magic  stream  of  liquid 
life  was  compounded  by  a divine  Chemist. 
In  it  float  all  our  success  and  destiny.  In  it 
are  the  extensions  and  limits  of  our  possibil- 
ities. In  it  are  health  and  long  life,  or  dis- 
ease and  premature  death.  In  it  are  our 
hopes  and  our  fears,  our  courage,  our  cow- 
ardice, our  energy  or  lassitude,  our  strength 
or  weakness,  our  success  or  failure.  In  it 
are  susceptibilities  of  high  or  broad  culture, 
or  pinched  or  narrow  faculties  handed  down 
from  an  uncultured  ancestr)^  From  it  our 
bones  and  nerves,  our  muscles  and  brain,  our 
comeliness  or  ugliness,  all  come.  In  it  are 
locked  up  the  elements  of  a vicious  or  a 
gentle  life,  the  tendencies  of  a criminal  or  a 
saint.  How  important  is  it,  then,  that  we 
should  obey  the  laws  of  health,  and  thus 
maintain  the  purity  and  power  of  this  our 
earthly  River  of  Life ! 

“ We  hear  a great  deal  about  the  ‘ vile 
body,’  ” said  Spencer,  “ and  many  are  encour- 
aged by  the  phrase  to  transgress  the  laws  of 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  227 


health.  But  Nature  quietly  suppresses  those 
who  treat  thus  disrespectfully  one  of  her 
highest  products,  and  leaves  the  world  to  be 
peopled  by  the  descendants  of  those  who  are 
not  so  foolish.” 

Nature  gives  to  him  that  hath.  She  shows 
him  the  contents  of  her  vast  storehouse,  and 
bids  him  take  all  he  wants  and  be  welcome. 
But  she  will  not  let  him  keep  for  years  what 
he  does  not  use.  Use  or  lose  is  her  motto. 
Every  atom  we  do  not  utilize  this  great  econ- 
omist snatches  from  us. 

If  you  put  your  arm  in  a sling  and  do 
not  use  it,  Nature  will  remove  the  muscle  al- 
most to  the  bone,  and  the  arm  will  become 
useless,  but  in  exact  proportion  to  your  ef- 
forts to  use  it  again  she  will  gradually  re- 
store what  she  took  away.  Put  your  mind 
in  the  sling  of  idleness,  or  inactivity,  and  in 
like  manner  she  will  remove  your  brain,  even 
to  imbecility.  The  blacksmith  wants  one  pow- 
erful arm,  and  she  gives  it  to  him,  but  re- 
duces the  other.  You  can,  if  you  will,  send 
all  the  energy  of  your  life  into  some  one 
faculty,  but  all  your  other  faculties  will 
starve. 

A young  lady  may  wear  tight  corsets  if 
she  chooses,  but  Nature  will  remove  the  rose 


228  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


from  her  cheek  and  put  pallor  there.  She 
will  replace  a clear  complexion  with  muddy 
hues  and  sallow  spots.  She  will  take  away 
the  elastic  step,  the  luster  from  the  eye. 

Don’t  expect  to  have  health  for  nothing. 
Nothing  in  this  world  worth  anything  can 
be  had  for  nothing.  Health  is  the  prize  of 
a constant  struggle. 

Nature  passes  no  act  without  affixing  a 
penalty  for  its  violation.  Whenever  she  is 
outraged  she  will  have  her  penalty,  although 
it  take  a life. 

A great  surgeon  stood  before  his  class  to 
perform  a certain  operation  which  the  elab- 
orate mechanism  and  minute  knowledge  of 
modern  science  had  only  recently  made  pos- 
sible. With  strong  and  gentle  hand  he  did 
his  work  successfully  so  far  as  his  part  of 
the  terrible  business  went ; and  then  he  turned 
to  his  pupils  and  said,  “ Two  years  ago  a safe 
and  simple  operation  might  have  cured  this 
disease.  Six  years  ago  a wise  way  of  life 
might  have  prevented  it.  We  have  done  our 
best  as  the  case  now  stands,  but  Nature  will 
have  her  word  to  say.  She  does  not  always 
consent  to  the  repeal  of  her  capital  sen- 
tences.” Next  day  the  patient  died. 

'Apart  from  accidents,  we  hold  our  life 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  229 


largely  at  will.  What  business  have  seventy- 
five  thousand  physicians  in  the  United  States  ? 
It  is  our  own  fault  that  even  one-tenth  of 
them  get  a respectable  living.  What  a com- 
mentary upon  our  modern  American  eiviliza- 
tion  that  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
people  in  this  country  die  annually  from  ab- 
solutely preventable  diseases!  Seneca  said, 
“ The  gods  have  given  us  a long  life,  but 
we  have  made  it  short.”  Few  people  know 
enough  to  become  old.  It  is  a rare  thing 
for  a person  to  die  of  old  age.  Only  three 
or  four  out  of  a hundred  die  of  anything 
like  old  age.  But  Nature  evidently  intended, 
by  the  wonderful  mechanism  of  the  human 
body,  that  we  should  live  well  up  to  a cen- 
tury. 

Thomas  Parr,  of  England,  lived  to  the  age 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  years.  He  was 
married  when  he  was  a hundred  and  twenty, 
and  did  not  leave  off  work  until  he  was  a 
hundred  and  thirty.  The  great  Dr.  Harvey 
examined  Parr’s  body,  but  found  no  cause 
of  death  except  a change  of  living.  Henry 
Jenkins,  of  Yorkshire,  England,  lived  to  be  a 
hundred  and  sixty-nine,  and  would  probably 
have  lived  longer  had  not  the  king  brought 
him  to  London,  where  luxuries  hastened  his 


230  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


death.  The  court  records  of  Engand  show 
that  he  was  a witness  in  a trial  a hundred 
and  forty  years  before  his  death.  He  swam 
across  a rapid  river  when  he  was  a hundred. 

There  is  nothing  we  are  more  ignorant  of 
than  the  pliysiology  and  chemistry  of  the 
human  body.  Not  one  person  in  a thousand 
can  correctly  locate  important  internal  organs 
or  describe  their  use  in  the  animal  economy. 

What  an  insult  to  the  Creator  who  fash- 
ioned them  so  wonderfully  and  fearfully  in 
His  own  image,  that  the  graduates  from  our 
high  schools  and  even  universities,  and  young 
women  who  “ finish  their  education,”  become 
proficient  in  the  languages,  in  music,  in  art, 
and  have  the  culture  of  travel,  but  can  not 
describe  or  locate  the  various  organs  or  func- 
tions upon  which  their  lives  depend ! “ The 

time  will  come,”  says  Frances  Willard,  “when 
it  will  be  told  as  a relic  of  our  primitive  bar- 
barism that  children  were  taught  the  list  of 
prepositions  and  the  names  of  the  rivers  of 
Thibet,  but  were  not  taught  the  wonderful 
laws  on  which  their  own  bodily  happiness  is 
based,  and  the  humanities  by  which  they 
could  live  in  peace  and  good-will  with  those 
about  them.”  Nothing  else  is  so  important 
to  man  as  the  study  and  knowledge  of  him- 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  231 


self,  and  yet  he  knows  less  of  himself  than 
he  does  of  the  beasts  about  him. 

The  human  body  is  the  great  poem  of  the 
Great  Author.  Not  to  learn  how  to  read  it, 
to  spell  out  its  meaning,  to  appreciate  its 
beauties,  or  to  attempt  to  fathom  its  mys- 
teries, is  a disgrace  to  our  civilization. 

What  a price  mortals  pay  for  their  igno- 
rance, let  a dwarfed,  half-developed,  one- 
sided, short-lived  nation  answer. 

“ A brilliant  intellect  in  a sickly  body  is 
like  gold  in  a spent  swimmer’s  pocket.” 

Often,  from  lack  of  exercise,  one  side  of 
the  brain  gradually  becomes  paralyzed  and 
deteriorates  into  imbecility.  How  intimately 
the  functions  of  the  nervous  organs  are 
united ! The  whole  man  mourns  for  a felon. 
The  least  swelling  presses  a nerve  against  a 
bone  and  causes  one  intense  agony,  and  even 
a Napoleon  becomes  a child.  A corn  on  the 
toe,  an  affection  of  the  kidneys  or  of  the 
liver,  a boil  anywhere  on  the  body,  or  a car- 
buncle, may  seriously  affect  the  eyes  and  even 
the  brain.  The  whole  system  is  a network 
of  nerves,  of  organs,  of  functions,  which  are 
so  intimately  joined,  and  related  in  such  close 
sympathy,  that  an  injury  to  one  part  is  im- 
mediately felt  in  every  other. 


232  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Nature  takes  note  of  all  our  transactions, 
physical,  mental,  or  moral,  and  places  every 
item  promptly  to  our  debit  or  credit. 

Let  us  take  a look  at  a page  in  Nature’s 
ledger : — 


To  damage  to  the  heart 
in  youth  by  immoderate 
athletics,  tobacco  chew- 
ing, cigarette  smoking, 
drinking  strong  tea  or 
coffee,  rowing,  running 
to  trains,  overstudy,  ex- 
citement, etc. 


To  one  digestive  ap- 
paratus ruined,  by  eat- 
ing hurriedly,  by  eating 
unsuitable  or  poorly 
cooked  food,  by  drink- 
ing ice  water  when  one 
is  heated,  by  swallowing 
scalding  drinks,  espe- 
cially tea,  which  forms 
tannic  acid  on  the  deli- 
cate lining  of  the  stom- 
ach; or  by  eating  when 
tired  or  worried,  or 
after  receiving  bad  news, 
when  the  gastric  juice 
can  not  be  secreted,  etc. 


The  “ irritable  heart,” 
the  “ tobacco  heart,” 
a life  of  promise  im- 
paired or  blighted. 


Dyspepsia,  melancho- 
lia, years  of  miserj'  to 
self,  anxiety  to  one’s 
family,  pity  and  disgust 
of  friends. 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  233 


To  one  nervous  sys- 
tem shattered  by  dis- 
sipation, abuses,  over- 
excitement, a fast  life, 
feverish  haste  to  get 
riches  or  fame,  hasten- 
ing puberty  by  stimulat- 
ing food,  exciting  life, 
etc. 

To  damage  by  undue 
mental  exertion  by  burn- 
ing the  “ midnight  oil,” 
exhausting  the  brain 
cells  faster  than  they 
can  be  renewed. 

To  overstraining  the 
brain  trying  to  lead  his 
class  in  college,  trying 
to  take  a prize,  or  to 
get  ahead  of  somebody 
else. 

To  hardening  the  deli- 
cate and  sensitive  gray 
matter  of  the  brain  and 
nerves,  and  ruining  the 
lining  membranes  of  the 
stomach  and  nervous 
system  by  alcohol, 
opium,  etc. 


Years  of  weakness, 
disappointed  ambition, 
hopeless  inefficiency,  a 
burnt-out  life. 


Impaired  powers  of 
mind,  softening  of  the 
brain,  blighted  hopes. 


A disappointed  am- 
bition, a life  of  inva- 
lidism. 


A hardened  brain,  a 
hardened  conscience,  a 
ruined  home,  Bright’s 
disease,  fatty  degener- 
ation, nervous  degen- 
eration, a short,  use- 
less, wasted  life. 


234  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


By  forced  balances,  Accounts  closed, 
here  and  there.  Physiological  and  moral 

bankruptcy. 

Sometimes  two  or  three  such  items  are 
charged  to  a single  account.  To  offset  them, 
there  is  placed  on  the  credit  side  a little  fev- 
erish excitement,  too  fleeting  for  calm  enjoy- 
ment, followed  by  regret,  remorse,  and  shame. 
Be  sure  your  sins  will  find  you  out.  They 
are  all  recorded. 

“ The  gods  are  just,  and  of  our  pleasant  vices 
Make  instruments  to  scourge  us.” 

It  is  a wonder  that  we  live  at  all.  We  vio- 
late every  law  of  our  being,  yet  we  expect 
to  live  to  a ripe  old  age.  What  would  you 
think  of  a man  who,  having  an  elegant  watch 
delicately  adjusted  to  heat  and  cold,  should 
leave  it  on  the  sidewalk  with  cases  open  on 
a dusty  or  a rainy  day,  and  yet  expect  it  to 
keep  good  time?  What  would  you  think  of 
a householder  who  should  leave  the  doors 
and  windows  of  his  mansion  open  to  thieves 
and  tramps,  to  winds  and  dust  and  rain? 

What  are  our  bodies  but  timepieces  made 
by  an  Infinite  Hand,  wound  up  to  run  a cen- 
tury, and  so  delicately  adjusted  to  heat  and 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  235 


cold  that  the  temperature  will  not  vary  half 
a degree  between  the  heat  of  summer  and  the 
cold  of  winter  whether  we  live  in  the  regions 
of  eternal  frost  or  under  the  burning  sun  of 
the  tropics?  A particle  of  dust  or  the  slight- 
est friction  will  throw  this  wonderful  time- 
piece out  of  order,  yet  we  often  leave  it  ex- 
posed to  all  the  corroding  elements.  We  do 
not  always  keep  open  the  twenty-five  miles 
of  ventilating  pores  in  the  skin  by  frequent 
bathing.  We  seldom  lubricate  the  delicate 
wheels  of  the  body  with  the  oil  of  gladness. 
We  expose  it  to  dust  and  cinders,  cold  and 
draughts,  and  poisonous  gases. 

How  careful  we  are  to  filter  our  water,  air 
our  beds,  ventilate  our  sleeping-rooms,  and 
analyze  our  milk!  We  shrink  from  contact 
with  filth  and  disease.  But  we  put  paper  col- 
ored with  arsenic  on  our  walls,  and  daily 
breathe  its  poisonous  exhalations.  We  fre- 
quent theaters  crowded  with  human  beings, 
many  of  whom  are  uncleanly  and  diseased. 
We  sit  for  hours  and  breathe  in  upon  four- 
teen hundred  square  feet  of  lung  tissue  the 
heated,  foul,  and  heavy  air;  carbonic  acid  gas 
from  hundreds  of  gas  burners,  each  consum- 
ing as  much  oxygen  as  six  people;  air  filled 
with  shreds  of  tissue  expelled  from  diseased 


236  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


lungs ; poisonous  effluvia  exhaled  from  the 
bodies  of  people  who  rarely  bathe,  from 
clothing  seldom  washed,  fetid  breaths,  and 
skin  diseases  in  different  stages  of  develop- 
ment. For  hours  we  sit  in  this  bath  of  poison, 
and  wonder  at  our  headache  and  lassitude 
next  morning. 

We  pour  a glass  of  ice  water  into  a stom- 
ach busy  in  the  delicate  operation  of  diges- 
tion, ignorant  or  careless  of  the  fact  that  it 
takes  half  an  hour  to  recover  from  the  shock 
and  get  the  temperature  back  to  ninety-eight 
degrees,  so  that  the  stomach  can  go  on  se- 
creting gastric  juice.  Then  down  goes  an- 
other glass  of  water  with  similar  results. 

We  pour  down  alcohol  which  thickens  the 
velvety  lining  of  the  stomach,  and  hardens 
the  soft  tissues,  the  thin  sheaths  of  nerves, 
and  the  gray  matter  of  the  brain.  We  crowd 
meats,  vegetables,  pastry,  confectionery,  nuts, 
raisins,  wines,  fruits,  etc.,  into  one  of  the 
most  delicately  constructed  organs  of  the 
body,  and  expect  it  to  take  care  of  its  mis- 
cellaneous and  incongruous  load  without  a 
murmur. 

After  all  these  abuses  we  do  not  give  the 
blood  a chance  to  go  to  the  stomach  and 
help  it  out  of  its  miser>%  but  summon  it  to 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  237 


the  brain  and  muscles,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  it  is  so  important  to  have  an  extra 
supply  to  aid  digestion  that  Nature  has  made 
the  blood  vessels  of  the  alimentary  canal 
large  enough  to  contain  several  times  the 
amount  in  the  entire  body. 

Who  ever  saw  a horse  leave  his  oats  and 
hay,  when  hungry,  to  wash  them  down  with 
water?  The  dumb  beasts  can  teach  us  some 
valuable  lessons  in  eating  and  drinking.  Na- 
ture mixes  our  gastric  juice  or  pepsin  and 
acids  in  just  the  right  proportion  to  digest 
our  food,  and  keep  it  at  exactly  the  right 
temperature.  If  we  dilute  it,  or  lower  its 
temperature  by  ice  water,  we  diminish  its  sol- 
vent or  digestive  power,  and  dyspepsia  is  the 
natural  result. 

English  factory  children  have  received  the 
commiseration  of  the  world  because  they  were 
scourged  to  work  fourteen  hours  out  of  the 
twenty-four.  But  there  is  many  a theoretical 
republican  who  is  a harsher  taskmaster  to  his 
stomach  than  this ; who  allows  it  no  more 
resting  time  than  he  does  his  watch ; who 
gives  it  no  Sunday,  no  holiday,  no  vacation 
in  any  sense,  and  who  seeks  to  make  his  heart 
beat  faster  for  the  sake  of  the  exhilaration  he 
can  thus  produce. 


238  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Although  the  heart  weighs  a little  over 
half  a pound,  yet  it  pumps  eighteen  pounds 
of  blood  from  itself,  forcing  it  into  every 
nook  and  corner  of  the  entire  body,  back  to 
itself  in  less  than  two  minutes.  This  little 
organ,  the  most  perfect  engine  in  the  world, 
does  a daily  work  equal  to  lifting  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four  tons  one  foot  high,  and 
exerts  one-third  as  much  muscle  p>ower  as 
does  a stout  man  at  hard  labor.  If  the  heart 
should  expend  its  entire  force  lifting  its  own 
weight,  it  would  raise  itself  nearly  twenty 
thousand  feet  an  hour,  ten  times  as  high  as 
a pedestrian  can  lift  himself  in  ascending  a 
mountain.  What  folly,  then,  to  goad  this 
willing,  hard-working  slave  to  greater  exer- 
tions by  stimulants ! 

We  must  pay  the  penalty  of  our  vocations. 
Beware  of  work  that  kills  the  workman. 
Those  who  prize  long  life  should  avoid  all 
occupations  which  compel  them  to  breathe  im- 
pure air  or  deleterious  gases,  and  especially 
those  in  which  they  are  obliged  to  inhale  dust 
and  filings  from  steel  and  brass  and  iron,  the 
the  dust  in  coal  mines,  and  dust  from  thresh- 
ing machines.  Stone-cutters,  miners,  and  steel 
grinders  are  short  lived,  the  sharp  particles 
of  dust  irritating  and  inflaming  the  tender 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  239 


lining  of  the  lung  cells.  The  knife  and  fork 
grinders  in  Manchester,  England,  rarely  live 
beyond  thirty-two  years.  Those  who  work  in 
grain  elevators  and  those  who  are  compelled 
to  breathe  chemical  poisons  are  short  lived. 

Deep  breathing  in  dusty  places  sends  the 
particles  of  dust  into  the  upper  and  less  used 
lobes  of  the  lungs,  and  these  become  a con- 
stant irritant,  until  they  finally  excite  an  in- 
flammation, which  may  end  in  consumption. 
All  occupations  in  which  arsenic  is  used 
shorten  life. 

Dr.  William  Ogle,  who  is  authority  upon 
this  subject,  says,  “Of  all  the  various  influ- 
ences that  tend  to  produce  differences  of  mor- 
tality in  any  community,  none  is  more  potent 
than  the  character  of  the  prevailing  occupa- 
tions.” Finding  that  clergymen  and  priests 
have  the  lowest  death-rate,  he  represented  it 
as  one  hundred,  and  by  comparison  found 
that  the  rate  for  inn  and  hotel  servants  was 
three  hundred  and  ninety-seven ; miners,  three 
hundred  and  thirty-one ; earthenware  makers, 
three  hundred  and  seventeen ; file  makers, 
three  hundred ; innkeepers,  two  hundred  and 
seventy-four ; gardeners,  farmers,  and  agri- 
cultural laborers  closely  approximating  the 
clerical  standard.  He  gave  as  the  causes  of 


240  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


high  mortality,  first,  working  in  a cramped 
or  constrained  attitude;  second,  exposure  to 
the  action  of  poisonous  or  irritating  sub- 
stances ; third,  excessive  work,  mental  or 
physical ; fourth,  working  in  confined  or  foul 
air ; fifth,  the  use  of  strong  drink ; sixth,  dif- 
ferences in  liability  to  fatal  accidents;  sev- 
enth, exposure  to  the  inhalation  of  dust.  The 
deaths  of  those  engaged  in  alcoholic  indus- 
tries were  as  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
twenty-one  to  one  thousand  of  the  average  of 
all  trades. 

It  is  very  important  that  occupations  should 
be  congenial.  Whenever  our  work  galls  us, 
whenever  we  feel  it  to  be  a drudgery  and 
uncongenial,  the  friction  grinds  life  away  at 
a terrible  rate. 

Health  can  be  accumulated,  invested,  and 
made  to  yield  its  compound  interest,  and  thus 
be  doubled  and  redoubled.  The  capital  of 
health  may,  indeed,  be  forfeited  by  one  mis- 
demeanor, as  a rich  man  may  sink  all  his 
property  in  one  bad  speculation;  but  it  is  as 
capable  of  being  increased  as  any  other  kind 
of  capital. 

One  is  inclined  to  think  with  a recent 
writer  that  it  looks  as  if  the  rich  men  kept 
out  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  were  also  ex- 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  241 


eluded  from  the  kingdom  of  brains.  In  New 
York,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Chicago  are 
thousands  of  millionaires,  some  of  them  run- 
ning through  three  or  four  generations  of 
fortune ; and  yet,  in  all  their  ranks,  there  is 
seldom  a man  possessed  of  the  higher  intel- 
lectual qualities  that  flower  in  literature,  elo- 
quence, or  statesmanship.  Scarcely  one  of 
them  has  produced  a book  worth  printing,  a 
poem  worth  reading,  or  a speech  worth  lis- 
tening to.  They  are  struck  with  intellectual 
sterility.  They  go  to  college ; they  travel 
abroad ; they  hire  the  dearest  masters ; they 
keep  libraries  among  their  furniture ; and 
some  of  them  buy  works  of  art.  But,  for 
all  that,  their  brains  wither  under  luxury, 
often  by  their  own  vices  or  tomfooleries,  and 
mental  barrenness  is  the  result.  He  who  vio- 
lates Nature’s  law  must  suffer  the  penalty, 
though  he  have  millions.  The  fruits  of  in- 
tellect do  not  grow  among  the  indolent  rich. 
They  are  usually  out  of  the  republic  of 
brains.  Work  or  starve  is  Nature’s  motto; 
starve  mentally,  starve  morally,  even  if  you 
are  rich  enough  to  prevent  physical  starva- 
tion. 

How  heavy  a bill  Nature  collects  of  him  in 
whom  the  sexual  instinct  has  been  permitted 


242  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


to  taint  the  whole  life  with  illicit  thoughts 
and  deeds,  stultifying  the  intellect,  deadening 
the  sensibilities,  dwarfing  the  soul ! 

“ I waive  the  quantum  of  the  sin. 

The  hazard  of  concealing; 

But  och,  it  hardens  all  within, 

And  petrifies  the  feeling.” 

The  sense  of  fatigue  is  one  of  Nature’s 
many  signals  of  danger.  All  we  accomplish 
by  stimulating  or  crowding  the  body  or  mind 
when  tired  is  worse  than  lost.  Insomnia,  and 
sometimes  even  insanity,  is  Nature’s  penalty 
for  prolonged  loss  of  sleep. 

One  of  the  worst  tortures  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion was  that  of  keeping  victims  from  sleep- 
ing, often  driving  them  to  insanity  or  death. 
Melancholy  follows  insomnia ; insanity,  both. 
To  keep  us  in  a healthy  condition.  Nature 
takes  us  back  to  herself,  puts  us  under  the 
ether  of  sleep,  and  keeps  us  there  nearly  one- 
third  of  our  lives,  while  she  overhauls  and 
repairs  in  secret  our  wonderful  mechanism. 
She  takes  us  back  each  night  wasted  and 
dusty  from  the  day’s  work,  broken,  scarred, 
and  injured  in  the  great  struggle  of  life. 
Each  cell  of  the  brain  is  reburnished  and 
refreshened ; all  the  ashes  or  waste  from  the 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  243 


combustion  of  the  tissues  is  washed  out  into 
the  blood  stream,  pumped  to  the  lungs,  and 
thrown  out  in  the  breath ; and  the  body  is 
returned  in  the  morning  as  fresh  and  good 
as  new. 

The  American  honey  does  not  always  pay 
for  the  sting. 

Labor  is  the  eternal  condition  on  which  the 
rich  man  gains  an  appetite  for  his  dinner, 
and  the  poor  man  a dinner  for  his  appetite ; 
but  the  habit  of  constant,  perpetual  industry 
often  becomes  a disease. 

In  the  Norse  legend.  Allfader  was  not  al- 
lowed to  drink  from  Mirmir’s  Spring,  the 
fount  of  wisdom,  until  he  had  left  his  eye 
as  a pledge.  Scholars  often  leave  their 
health,  their  happiness,  their  usefulness  be- 
hind; in  their  great  eagerness  to  drink  deep 
draughts  at  wisdom’s  fountain.  Professional 
men  often  sacrifice  everything  that  is  valu- 
able in  life  for  the  sake  of  reputation,  influ- 
ence, and  money.  Business  men  sacrifice 
home,  family,  health,  happiness,  in  the  great 
struggle  for  money  and  power.  The  Ameri- 
can prize,  like  the  pearl  in  the  oyster,  is  very 
attractive,  but  is  too  often  the  result  of  dis- 
ease. 

Charles  Linnaeus,  the  great  naturalist,  so 


244  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


exhausted  his  brain  by  over-exertion  that  he 
could  not  recognize  his  own  work,  and  even 
forgot  his  own  name.  Kirk  White  won  the 
prize  at  Cambridge,  but  it  cost  him  his  life. 
He  studied  at  night  and  forced  his  brain  by 
stimulants  and  narcotics  in  his  endeavor  to 
pull  through,  but  he  died  at  twenty-four. 
Paley  died  at  sixty-two  of  overwork.  He 
was  called  “one  of  the  sublimest  spirits  in 
the  world.” 

President  Timothy  Dwight  of  Yale  College 
nearly  killed  himself  by  overwork  when  a 
young  man.  When  at  Yale  he  studied  nine 
hours,  taught  six  hours  a day,  and  took  no 
exercise  whatever.  He  could  not  be  induced 
to  stop  until  he  became  so  nervous  and  irri- 
table that  he  was  unable  to  look  at  a book 
ten  minutes  a day.  His  mind  gave  way,  and 
it  was  a long  time  before  he  fully  recovered. 

Imagine  the  surprise  of  the  angels  at  the 
death  of  men  and  women  in  the  early  prime 
and  vigor  of  life.  Could  we  but  read  the 
notes  of  their  autopsies  we  might  say  less  of 
mysterious  Providence  at  funerals.  They 
would  run  somewhat  as  follows : — 

NOTES  FROM  THE  ANGELS’  AUTOPSIES. 

What,  is  it  returned  so  soon? — a body  framed 
for  a century’s  use  returned  at  thirty? — a temple 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  245 


which  was  twenty-eight  years  in  building  destroyed 
almost  before  it  was  completed?  What  have  gray 
hairs,  wrinkles,  a bent  form',  and  death  to  do  with 
youth  ? 

Has  all  this  beauty  perished  like  a bud  just  burst- 
ing into  bloom,  plucked  by  the  grim  destroyer? 
Has  she  fallen  a victim  to  tight-lacing,  over-excite- 
ment, and  the  gaiety  and  frivolity  of  fashionable 
life? 

Here  is  an  educated,  refined  woman  who  died  of 
lung  starvation.  What  a tax  human  beings  pay  for 
breathing  impure  air!  Nature  provides  them  with 
a tonic  atmosphere,  compounded  by  the  divine 
Qiemist,  but  they  refuse  to  breathe  it  in  its  purity, 
and  so  must  pay  the  penalty  in  shortened  lives. 
They  can  live  a long  time  without  water,  a longer 
time  without  food,  clothing,  or  the  so-called  com- 
forts of  life;  they  can  live  without  education  or 
culture,  but  their  lungs  must  have  good,  healthful 
air-food  twenty-four  thousand  times  a day  if  they 
would  maintain  health.  Oh,  that  they  would  see, 
as  we  do,  the  intimate  connection  between  bad  air, 
bad  morals,  and  a tendency  to  crime! 

Here  are  the  ruins  of  an  idolized  son  and  loving 
husband.  Educated  and  refined,  what  infinite  pos- 
sibilities beckoned  him  onward  at  the  beginning  of 
his  career ! But  the  Devil’s  agent  offered  him 
imagination,  sprightliness,  wit,  eloquence,  bodily 
strength,  and  happiness  in  eau  de  vie,  or  “ water 
of  life,”  as  he  called  it,  at  only  fifteen  cents  a glass. 
The  best  of  our  company  tried  to  dissuade  him, 
but  to  no  avail.  The  poor  mortal  closed  his  “ bar- 
gain ” with  the  dramseller,  and  what  did  he  get? 


246  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


A hardened  conscience,  a ruined  home,  a diseased 
body,  a muddled  brain,  a heartbroken  wife,  wretched 
children,  disappointed  friends,  triumphant  enemies, 
days  of  remorse,  nights  of  anguish,  an  unwept 
deathbed,  an  unhonored  grave.  And  only  to  think 
that  he  is  only  one  of  many  thousands ! “ What 
fools  these  mortals  be ! ” 

Did  he  not  see  the  destruction  toward  which  he 
was  rushing  with  all  the  feverish  haste  of  slavish 
appetite?  Ah,  yes,  but  only  when  it  was  too  late. 
In  his  clenched  hand,  as  he  lay  dead,  was  found  a 
crumpled  paper  containing  the  following,  in  lines 
barely  legible  so  tremulous  were  the  nerves  of  the 
writer:  “Wife,  children,  and  over  forty  thousand 
dollars  all  gone ! I alone  am  responsible.  All  has 
gone  down  my  throat.  When  I was  twenty-one  I 
had  a fortune.  I am  not  yet  thirty-five  years  old. 
I have  killed  my  beautiful  wife,  who  died  of  a 
broken  heart;  have  murdered  our  children  with 
neglect.  When  this  coin  is  gone  I do  not  know 
how  I can  get  my  next  meal.  I shall  die  a drunken 
pauper.  This  is  my  last  money,  and  my  history. 
If  this  bill  comes  into  the  hands  of  any  man  who 
drinks,  let  him  take  warning  from  my  life’s  ruin.” 

What  a magnificent  specimen  of  manhood  this 
would  have  been  if  his  life  had  been  under  the 
rule  of  reason,  not  passion!  He  dies  of  old  age  at 
forty,  his  hair  is  gray,  his  eyes  are  sunken,  his  com- 
plexion sodden,  his  body  marked  with  the  labels  of 
his  disease.  A physique  fit  for  a god,  fashioned  in 
the  Creator’s  image,  with  infinite  possibilities,  a 
physiological  hulk  wrecked  on  passion’s  seas,  and 
fit  only  for  a danger  signal  to  warn  the  race.  What 


NATURE’S  LITTLE  BILL  247 

would  parents  think  of  a captain  who  would  leave 
his  son  in  charge  of  a ship  without  giving  him  any 
instructions  or  chart  showing  the  rocks,  reefs,  and 
shoals?  Do  they  not  know  that  those  who  sleep  in 
the  ocean  are  but  a handful  compared  with  those 
who  have  foundered  on  passion’s  seas?  Oh,  the 
sins  of  silence  which  parents  commit  against  those 
dearer  to  them  than  life  itself!  Youth  can  not  under- 
stand the  great  solicitude  of  parents  regarding  their 
education,  their  associations,  their  welfare  generally, 
and  the  mysterious  silence  in  regard  to  their  physi- 
cal natures.  An  intelligent  explanation,  by  all 
mothers  to  the  daughters  and  by  all  fathers  to  the 
sons,  of  the  mysteries  of  their  physical  lives,  when 
at  the  right  age,  would  revolutionize  civilization. 

This  young  clergyman  killed  himself  trying  to  be 
popular.  This  student  committed  suicide  by  ex- 
hausting his  brain  in  trying  to  lead  his  class.  This 
young  lawyer  overdrew  his  account  at  Nature’s 
bank,  and  she  foreclosed  by  a stroke  of  paralysis. 

This  merchant  died  at  thirty-five  by  his  own  hand. 
His  life  was  slipping  away  without  enjoyment.  He 
had  murdered  his  capacity  for  happiness,  and  dug 
his  own  spiritual  grave  while  making  preparations 
for  enjoying  life.  This  young  society  man  died  of 
nothing  to  do  and  dissipation,  at  thirty. 

What  a miserable  farce  the  life  of  men  and 
women  seems  to  us ! Time,  which  is  so  precious 
that  even  the  Creator  will  not  give  a second  mo- 
ment until  the  first  is  gone,  they  throw  away  as 
though  it  were  water.  Opportunities  which  angels 
covet  they  fling  away  as  of  no  consequence,  and  die 
failures,  because  they  have  “ no  chance  in  life.” 


248  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Life,  which  seems  so  precious  to  us,  they  spurn  as 
if  but  a bauble.  Scarcely  a mortal  returns  to  us 
who  has  not  robbed  himself  of  years  of  precious 
life.  Scarcely  a man  returns  to  us  dropping  off  in 
genuine  old  age,  as  autumn  leaves  drop  in  the 
forest. 

Has  life  become  so  cheap  that  mortals  thus  throw 
it  away? 


XIII.  CHOOSING  A VOCATION 


Be  what  nature  intended  you  for,  and  you  will 
succeed;  be  anything  else,  and  you  will  be  ten  thou- 
sand times  worse  than  nothing. — Sydney  Smith. 

“'Many  a man  pays  for  his  success  with  a slice 
of  his  constitution.” 

No  man  struggles  perpetually  and  victoriously 
against  his  own  character ; and  one  of  the  first 
principles  of  success  in  life  is  so  to  regulate  our 
career  as  rather  to  turn  our  physical  constitution 
and  natural  inclinations  to  good  account  than  to 
endeavor  to  counteract  the  one  or  oppose  the  other. 
— Bulwer. 

He  that  hath  a trade  hath  an  estate. — Franklin. 

Nature  fits  all  her  children  with  something  to  do. 
— Lowell. 

S occupations  and  professions 
have  a powerful  influence 

upon  the  length  of  human 

life,  the  youth  should  first 

ascertain  whether  the  voca- 
tion he  thinks  of  choosing  is 
a healthy  one.  ' Statesmen,  judges,  and 
clergymen  are  noted  for  their  longevity. 

They  are  not  swept  into  the  great  business 
vortex,  where  the  friction  and  raspings  of 

sharp  competition  whittle  life  away  at  a fear- 
ful rate.  Astronomers,  who  [contemplate  vast 
249 


250  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


systems,  moving  through  enormous  distances, 
are  exceptionally  long  lived, — as  Herschel 
and  Humboldt.  Philosophers,  scientists,  and 
mathematicians,  as  Galileo,  Bacon,  Newton, 
Euler,  Dalton,  in  fact,  those  who  have  dwelt 
upon  the  exact  sciences,  seem  to  have  escaped 
many  of  the  ills  from  which  humanity  suf- 
fers. Great  students  of  natural  history  have 
also,  as  a rule,  lived  long  and  happy  lives.  Of 
fourteen  members  of  a noted  historical  so- 
ciety in  England,  who  died  in  1870,  two  were 
over  ninety,  five  over  eighty,  and  two  over 
seventy. 

The  occupation  of  the  mind  has  a great  in- 
fluence upon  the  health  of  the  body. 

There  is  no  employment  so  dangerous  and 
destructive  to  life  but  plenty  of  human  beings 
can  be  found  to  engage  in  it.  Of  all  the  in- 
stances that  can  be  given  of  recklessness  of 
life,  there  is  none  which  exceeds  that  of  the 
workmen  employed  in  what  is  called  dry- 
pointing— the  grinding  of  needles  and  of  table 
forks.  The  fine  steel  dust  which  they  breathe 
brings  on  a painful  disease,  of  which  they  are 
almost  sure  to  die  before  they  are  forty.  Yet 
not  only  are  men  tempted  by  high  wages  to 
engage  in  this  employment,  but  they  resist  to 
the  utmost  all  contrivances  devised  for  di- 


CHOOSING  A VOCATION  251 


minishing  the  danger,  through  fear  that  such 
things  would  cause  more  workmen  to  offer 
themselves  and  thus  lower  wages.  Many 
physicians  have  investigated  the  effects  of 
work  in  the  numerous  match  factories  in 
France  upon  the  health  of  the  employees,  and 
all  agree  that  rapid  destruction  of  the  teeth, 
decay  or  necrosis  of  the  jawbone,  bronchitis, 
and  other  diseases  result. 

We  will  probably  find  more  old  men  on 
farms  than  elsewhere.  There  are  many  rea- 
sons why  farmers  should  live  longer  than 
persons  residing  in  cities  or  than  those  en- 
gaged in  other  occupations.  Aside  from  the 
purer  air,  the  outdoor  exercise,  both  condu- 
cive to  a good  appetite  and  sound  sleep, 
which  comparatively  few  in  cities  enjoy,  they 
are  free  from  the  friction,  harassing  cares, 
anxieties,  and  the  keen  competition  incident 
to  city  life.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are 
some  great  drawbacks  and  some  enemies  to 
longevity,  even  on  the  farm.  Man  does  not 
live  by  bread  alone.  The  mind  is  by  far  the 
greatest  factor  in  maintaining  the  body  in  a 
healthy  condition.  The  social  life  of  the  city, 
the  great  opportunities  afforded  the  mind  for 
feeding  upon  libraries  and  lectures,  great  ser- 
mons, and  constant  association  with  other 


252  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


minds,  the  great  variety  of  amusements  com- 
pensate largely  for  the  loss  of  many  of  the 
advantages  of  farm  life.  In  spite  of  the 
great  temperance  and  immunity  from  things 
which  corrode,  whittle,  and  rasp  away  life  in 
the  cities,  farmers  in  many  places  do  not  live 
so  long  as  scientists  and  some  other  profes- 
sional men. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  aspiration  and  suc- 
cess tend  to  prolong  life.  Prosperity  tends  to 
longevity,  if  we  do  not  wear  life  away  or 
burn  it  out  in  the  feverish  pursuit  of  wealth. 
Thomas  W.  Higginson  made  a list  of  thirty 
of  the  most  noted  preachers  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, and  found  that  their  average  length  of 
life  was  sixty-nine  years. 

Among  miners  in  some  sections  over  six 
hundred  out  of  a thousand  die  from  consump- 
tion. In  the  prisons  of  Europe,  where  the 
fatal  effects  of  bad  air  and  filth  are  shown, 
over  sixty-one  per  cent,  of  the  deaths  are 
from  tuberculosis.  In  Bavarian  monasteries, 
fifty  per  cent,  of  those  wEo  enter  in  good 
health  die  of  consumption,  and  in  the  Prus- 
sian prisons  it  is  almost  the  same.  The  effect 
of  bad  air,  filth,  and  bad  food  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  the  death-rate  among  these 
classes,  betw^een  the  ages  of  twenty  and  forty. 


CHOOSING  A VOCATION  253 


is  five  times  that  of  the  general  population 
of  the  same  age.  In  New  York  City,  over 
one-fifth  of  all  the  deaths  of  persons  over 
twenty  are  from  this  cause.  In  large  cities 
in  Europe  the  percentage  is  often  still  greater. 
Of  one  thousand  deaths  from  all  causes,  on 
the  average,  one  hundred  and  three  farmers 
die  of  pulmonary  tuberculosis,  one  hundred 
and  eight  fishermen,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
one  gardeners,  one  hundred  and  twenty-two 
farm  laborers,  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
grocers,  two  hundred  and  nine  tailors,  three 
hundred  and  one  dry-goods  dealers,  and  four 
hundred  and  sixty-one  compositors, — nearly 
one-half. 

According  to  a long  series  of  investigations 
by  Drs.  Benoysten  and  Lombard  into  occu- 
pations or  trades  where  workers  must  inhale 
dust,  it  appears  that  mineral  dust  is  the  most 
detrimental  to  health,  animal  dust  .ranking 
next,  and  vegetable  dust  third. 

In  choosing  an  occupation,  cleanliness,  pure 
air,  sunlight,  and  freedom  from  corroding 
dust  and  poisonous  gases  are  of  the  greatest 
importance.  A man  who  would  sell  a year 
of  his  life  for  any  amount  of  money  would 
be  considered  insane,  and  yet  we  deliberately 
choose  occupations  and  vocations  which  sta- 


254  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


tistics  and  physicians  tell  us  will  be  practically 
sure  to  cut  off  from  five  to  twenty-five,  thirty, 
or  even  forty  years  of  our  lives,  and  are 
seemingly  perfectly  indifferent  to  our  fate. 

There  is  danger  in  a calling  which  requires 
great  expenditure  of  vitality  at  long,  irregular 
intervals.  He  who  is  not  regularly,  or  sys- 
tematically employed  incurs  perpetual  risk. 
“ Of  the  thirty-two  all-round  athletes  in  a 
New  York  club  not  long  ago,”  said  a physi- 
cian, “three  are  dead  of  consumption,  five 
have  to  wear  trusses,  four  or  five  are  lop- 
shouldered, and  three  have  catarrh  and  par- 
tial deafness.”  Dr.  Patten,  chief  surgeon  at 
the  National  Soldiers’  Home  at  Dayton,  Ohio, 
says  that  “of  the  five  thousand  soldiers  in 
that  institution  fully  eighty  per  cent,  are  suf- 
fering from  heart  disease  in  one  form  or  an- 
other, due  to  the  forced  physical  exertions  of 
the  campaigns.” 

Man’s  faculties  and  functions  are  so  inter- 
related that  whatever  affects  one  affects  all. 
Athletes  who  overdevelop  the  muscular  sys- 
tem do  so  at  the  expense  of  the  physical, 
mental,  and  moral  well-being.  It  is  a law  of 
nature  that  the  overdevelopment  of  any  func- 
tion or  faculty,  forcing  or  straining  it,  tends 
not  only  to  ruin  it,  but  also  to  cause  injurious 


CHOOSING  A VOCATION  255 

reactions  on  every  other  faculty  and  func- 
tion. 

Vigorous  thought  must  come  from  a fresh 
brain.  We  can  not  expect  nerve,  snap,  robust- 
ness and  vigor,  sprightliness  and  elasticity, 
in  the  speech,  in  the  book,  or  in  the  essay, 
from  an  exhausted,  jaded  brain.  The  brain 
is  one  of  the  last  organs  of  the  body  to  reach 
maturity  (at  about  the  age  of  twenty-eight), 
and  should  never  be  overworked,  especially  in 
youth.  The  whole  future  of  a man  is  often 
ruined  by  over-straining  the  brain  in  school. 

Brain-workers  can  not  do  good,  effective 
work  in  one  line  many  hours  a day.  When 
the  brain  is  weary,  when  it  begins  to  lose 
its  elasticity  and  freshness,  there  will  be  the 
same  lack  of  tonicity  and  strength  in  the  brain 
product.  Some  men  often  do  a vast  amount 
of  literary  work  in  entirely  different  lines 
during  their  spare  hours. 

Cessation  of  brain  activity  does  not  neces- 
sarily constitute  brain  rest,  as  most  great 
thinkers  know.  The  men  who  accomplish  the 
most  brain-work,  sooner  or  later — usually  later, 
unfortunately — learn  to  give  rest  to  one  set  of 
faculties  and  use  another,  as  interest  begins  to 
flag  and  a sense  of  weariness  comes.  In  this 
way  they  have  been  enabled  to  astonish  the 


256  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


world  by  their  mental  achievements,  which  is 
very  largely  a matter  of  skill  in  exercising 
alternate  sets  of  faculties,  allowing  rest  to 
some  while  giving  healthy  exercise  to  others. 
The  continual  use  of  one  set  of  faculties  by 
an  ambitious  worker  will  soon  bring  him  to 
grief.  No  set  of  brain  cells  can  possibly  set 
free  more  brain  force  in  the  combustion  of 
thought  than  is  stored  up  in  them.  The  tired 
brain  must  have  rest,  or  nervous  exhaustion, 
brain  fever,  or  even  softening  of  the  brain 
is  liable  to  follow. 

As  a rule,  physical  vigor  is  the  condition 
of  a great  career.  What  would  Gladstone 
have  accomplished  with  a weak,  puny  phy- 
sique? He  addresses  an  audience  at  Corfu  in 
Greek,  and  another  at  Florence  in  Italian.  A 
little  later  he  converses  at  ease  with  Bismarck 
in  German,  or  talks  fluent  French  in  Paris, 
or  piles  up  argument  on  argument  in  English 
for  hours  in  Parliament.  There  are  families 
that  have  “ clutched  success  and  kept  it 
through  generations  from  the  simple  fact  of 
a splendid  physical  organization  handed  down 
from  one  generation  to  another.” 

All  occupations  that  enervate,  paralyze,  or 
destroy  body  or  soul  should  be  avoided.  Our 
manufacturing  interests  too  often  give  little 


CHOOSING  A VOCATION  257 


thought  to  the  employed;  the  article  to  be 
made  is  generally  the  only  object  considered. 
They  do  not  care  if  a man  spends  the  whole 
of  his  life  upon  the  head  of  a pin,  or  in  mak- 
ing a screw  in  a watch  factory.  They  take 
no  notice  of  the  occupations  that  ruin,  or  the 
phosphorus,  the  dust,  the  arsenic  that  destroys 
the  health,  that  shortens  the  lives  of  many 
workers ; of  the  cramped  condition  of  the 
body  which  creates  deformity. 

The  moment  we  compel  those  we  employ 
to  do  work  that  demoralizes  them  or  does 
not  tend  to  elevate  or  lift  them,  we  are  forcing 
them  into  service  worse  than  useless.  “ If 
we  induce  painters  to  work  in  fading  col- 
ors, or  architects  with  rotten  stone,  or  con- 
tractors to  construct  buildings  with  imperfect 
materials,  we  are  forcing  our  Michael  An- 
gelos to  carve  in  snow.” 

Ruskin  says  that  the  tendency  of  the  age  is 
to  expend  its  genius  in  perishable  art,  as  if  it 
were  a triumph  to  hum  its  thoughts  away  in 
bonfires.  Is  the  work  you  compel  others  to 
do  useful  to  yourself  and  to  society?  If  you 
employ  a seamstress  to  make  four  or  five  or 
six  beautiful  flounces  for  your  ball  dress, 
flounces  which  will  only  clothe  yourself,  and 
which  you  will  wear  at  only  one  ball,  you  are 


258  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


employing  your  money  selfishly.  Do  not  con- 
fuse covetousness  with  benevolence,  nor  cheat 
yourself  into  thinking  that  all  the  finery  you 
can  wear  is  so  much  put  into  the  hungr}'' 
mouths  of  those  beneath  you.  It  is  what 
those  who  stand  shivering  on  the  street,  form- 
ing a line  to  see  you  step  out  of  your  carriage, 
know  it  to  be.  These  fine  dresses  do  not  mean 
that  so  much  has  been  put  into  their  mouths, 
but  that  so  much  has  been  taken  out  of  their 
mouths. 

/ Select  a clean,  useful,  honorable  occupa- 
tion. If  there  is  any  doubt  on  this  point, 
abandon  it  at  once,  for  familiarity  ufith  a bad 
business  will  make  it  seejn  good.  Choose  a 
business  that  has  expansiveness  in  it.  Some 
kinds  of  business  not  even  a J.  Pierpont 
Morgan  could  make  respectable.  Choose  an 
occupation  which  will  develop  you ; which  will 
elevate  you ; which  will  give  you  a chance  for 
self-improvement  and  promotion.  You  may 
not  make  quite  so  much  money,  but  you  will 
be  more  of  a man,  and  manhood  is  abox’e  all 
riches,  overtops  all  titles,  and  character  is 
greater  than  any  career.  If  possible  avoid 
occupations  which  compel  you  to  work  in  a 
cramped  position,  or  where  you  must  work  at 
night  and  on  Sundays.  Don’t  tr}'^  to  justify 


CHOOSING  A VOCATION  259 


yourself  on  the  ground  that  somebody  must 
do  this  kind  of  work.  Let  “ somebody,”  not 
yourself,  take  the  responsibility.  Aside  from 
the  right  and  wrong  of  the  thing,  it  is  inju- 
rious to  the  health  to  work  seven  days  in  the 
week,  to  work  at  night  when  Nature  intended 
you  to  sleep,  or  to  sleep  in  the  daytime  when 
she  intended  you  to  work. 

Many  a man  has  dwarfed  his  manhood, 
cramped  his  intellect,  crushed  his  aspiration, 
blunted  his  finer  sensibilities,  in  some  mean, 
narrow  occupation  just  because  there  was 
money  in  it. 

“ Study  yourself,”  says  Longfellow,  “ and 
most  of  all,  note  well  wherein  kind  nature 
meant  you  to  excel.” 

Dr.  Matthews  says  that  “ to  no  other  cause, 
perhaps,  is  failure  in  life  so  frequently  to  be 
traced  as  to  a mistaken  calling.”  We  can  of- 
ten find  out  by  hard  knocks  and  repeated  fail- 
ures what  we  can  not  do  before  what  we  can 
do.  This  negative  process  of  eliminating 
the  doubtful  chances  is  often  the  only  way  of 
attaining  to  the  positive  conclusion. 

How  many  men  have  been  made  ridiculous 
for  life  by  choosing  law  or  medicine  or  theol- 
ogy, simply  because  they  are  “ honorable 
professions  ” ! These  men  might  have  been 


26o  rising  in  the  WORLD 


respectable  farmers  or  merchants,  but  are 
“ nobodies  ” in  such  vocations.  The  very 
glory  of  the  profession  which  they  thought 
would  make  them  shining  lights  simply  ren- 
ders more  conspicuous  their  incapacity. 

\ -thousands  of  youths  receive  an  education 
''^that  fits  them  for  a profession  which  they 
have  not  the  means  or  inclination  to  follow', 
and  that  unfits  them  for  the  conditions  of 
life  to  which  they  were  born.  Unsuccessful 
students  with  a smattering  of  everything  are 
raised  as  much  above  their  original  condition 
as  if  they  were  successful.  A large  portion  of 
Paris  cabmen  are  unsuccessful  students  in 
theology  and  other  professions  and  also  un- 
frocked priests.  They  are  very  bad  cabmen. 

“Tompkins  forsakes  his  last  and  awl 
For  literary  squabbles; 

Styles  himself  poet;  but  his  trade 
Remains  the  same, — he  cobbles.” 

Don’t  choose  a profession  or  occupation  be- 
cause your  father,  or  uncle,  or  brother  is  in 
it.  Don’t  choose  a business  because  you  in- 
herit it,  or  because  parents  or  friends  want 
you  to  follow  it.  Don’t  choose  it  because 
others  have  made  fortunes  in  it.  Don’t  choose 
it  because  it  is  considered  the  “ proper  thing  ” 


CHOOSING  A VOCATION  261 


and  a “ genteel  ” business.  The  mania  for  a 
“ genteel  ” occupation,  for  a “ soft  job  ” which 
eliminates  drudgery,  thorns,  hardships,  and 
all  disagreeable  things,  and  one  which  can  be 
learned  with  very  little  effort,  ruins  many 
a youth. 

When  we  try  to  do  that  for  which  we  are 
unfitted  we  are  not  working  along  the  line 
of  our  strength,  but  of  our  weakness ; our  will 
power  and  enthusiasm  become  demoralized ; 
we  do  half  work,  botched  work,  lose  confi- 
dence in  ourselves,  and  conclude  that  we  are 
dunces  because  we  can  not  accomplish  what 
others  do ; the  whole  tone  of  life  is  demora- 
lized and  lowered  because  we  are  out  of 
place. 

How  it  shortens  the  road  to  success  to 
make  a wise  choice  of  one’s  occupation  early, 
to  be  started  on  the  road  of  a proper  career 
while  young,  full  of  hope,  while  the  animal 
spirits  are  high,  and  enthusiasm  is  vigorous ; 
to  feel  that  every  step  we  take,  that  every 
day’s  work  we  do,  that  every  blow  we  strike 
helps  to  broaden,  deepen,  and  enrich  life ! 

Those  who  fail  are,  as  a rule,  those  who 
are  out  of  their  places.  A man  out  of  his 
place  is  hut  half  a man;  his  very  nature  is 
perverted.  He  is  working  against  his  nature. 


262  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


rowing  against  the  current.  When  his 
strength  is  exhausted  he  will  float  down  the 
stream.  A man  can  not  succeed  when  his 
whole  nature  is  entering  its  perpetual  protest 
against  his  occupation.  To  succeed,  his  voca- 
tion must  have  the  consent  of  all  his  facul- 
ties ; they  must  be  in  harmony  with  his  pur- 
pose. 

Has  a young  man  a right  to  choose  an  oc- 
cupation which  will  only  call  into  play  his 
lower  and  inferior  qualities,  as  cunning,  de- 
ceit, letting  all  his  nobler  qualities  shrivel  and 
die?  Has  he  a right  to  select  a vocation  that 
will  develop  only  the  beast  within  him  instead 
of  the  man?  which  will  call  out  the  bulldog 
qualities  only,  the  qualities  which  overreach 
and  grasp,  the  qualities  which  get  and  never 
give,  which  develop  long-headedriess  only, 
while  his  higher  self  atrophies? 

The  best  way  to  choose  an  occupation  is 
to  ask  yourself  the  question,  “ What  would 
my  government  do  with  me  if  it  were  to  con- 
sider scientifically  my  qualifications  and  adap- 
tations, and  place  me  to  the  best  possible  ad- 
vantage for  all  the  people?”  The  Norwegian 
precept  is  a good  one:  '“Give  thyself  wholly 
to  thy  fellow-men ; they  will  give  thee  back 
soon  enough.”  We  can  do  the  most  possible 


CHOOSING  A VOCATION  263 


for  ourselves  when  we  are  in  a position  where 
we  can  do  the  most  possible  for  others.  We 
are  doing  the  most  for  ourselves  and  for 
others  when  we  are  in  a position  which  calls 
into  play  in  the  highest  possible  way  the  great- 
est number  of  our  best  faculties;  in  other 
words,  we  are  succeeding  best  for  ourselves 
when  we  are  succeeding  best  for  others. 

The  time  will  come  when  there  will  be  in- 
stitutions for  determining  the  natural  bent  of 
the  boy  and  girl ; where  men  of  large  experi- 
ence and  close  observation  will  study  the  nat- 
ural inclination  of  the  youth,  help  him  to  find 
where  his  greatest  strength  lies  and  how  to 
use  it  to  the  best  advantage.  Even  if  we 
take  for  granted  what  is  not  true,  that  every 
youth  will  sooner  or  later  discover  the  line  of 
his  greatest  strength  so  that  he  may  get  his 
living  by  his  strong  points  rather  than  by  his 
weak  ones,  the  discovery  is  often  made  so  late 
in  life  that  great  success  is  practically  impos- 
sible. Such  institutions  would  help  boys  and 
girls  to  start  in  their  proper  careers  early  in 
life;  and  an  early  choice  shortens  the  way. 
Can  anything  be  more  important  to  human  be- 
ings than  a start  in  life  in  the  right  direction, 
where  even  small  effort  will  count  for  more 
in  the  race  than  the  greatest  effort — and  a 


264  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


life  of  drudgery — in  the  wrong  direction?  A 
man  is  seldom  unsuccessful,  unhappy,  or  vi- 
cious when  he  is  in  his  place. 

/ After  once  choosing  your  occupation,  how- 
ever, never  look  backward ; stick  to  it  with 
all  the  tenacity  you  can  muster.  Let  nothing 
tempt  you  or  swerve  you  a hair’s  breadth 
from  your  aim,  and  you  will  win.  Do  not  let 
the  thorns  which  appear  in  every  vocation, 
or  temporary  despondency  or  disappointment, 
shake  your  purpose.  You  will  never  succeed 
while  smarting  under  the  drudgery  of  your 
occupation,  if  you  are  constantly  haunted 
with  the  idea  that  you  could  succeed  better  in 
something  else.  Great  tenacity  of  purpose  is 
the  only  thing  that  will  carry  you  over  the 
hard  places  which  appear  in  every  career  to 
ultimate  triumph.  This  determination,  or 
fixity  of  purpose,  has  a great  moral  bearing 
upon  our  success,  for  it  leads  others  to  feel 
confidence  in  us,  and  this  is  everything.  It 
gives  credit  and  moral  support  in  a thousand 
ways.  People  always  believe  in  a man  with  a 
fixed  purpose,  and  will  help  him  twice  as 
quickly  as  one  who  is  loosely  or  indifferently 
attached  to  his  vocation,  and  liable  at  any 
time  to  make  a change,  or  to  fail.  Everybody 
knows  that  determined  men  are  not  likely  to 


CHOOSING  A VOCATION  265 


fail.  They  carry  in  their  very  pluck,  grit,  and 
determination  the  conviction  and  assurance  of 


-/The  world  does  not  dictate  what  you  shall 
do,  but  it  does  demand  that  you  do  something, 
and  that  you  shall  be  a king  in  your  line. 
There  is  no  grander  sight  than  that  of  a 
young  man  or  woman  in  the  right  place  strug- 
gling with  might  and  main  to  make  the  most 
of  the  stuff  at  command,  determined  that  not 
a faculty  or  power  shall  run  to  waste.  Not 
money,  not  position,  but  power  is  what  we 
want;  and  character  is  greater  than  any  oc- 
cupation or  profession. 

“ Do  not,  I beseech  you,”  said  Garfield,  “ be 
content  to  enter  on  any  business  that  does  not 
require  and  compel  constant  intellectual 
growth.”  Choose  an  occupation  that  is  refin- 
ing and  elevating;  an  occupation  that  you 
will  be  proud  of ; an  occupation  that  will  give 
you  time  for  self-culture  and  self-elevation; 
an  occupation  that  will  enlarge  and  expand 
your  manhood  and  make  you  a better  citizen, 
a better  man. 

Power  and  constant  growth  toward  a 
higher  life  are  the  great  end  of  human  exist- 
ence. Your  calling  should  be  the  great 
school  of  life,  the  great  man-developer,  char- 


266  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


acter-builder,  that  which  should  broaden, 
deepen,  and  round  out  into  symmetry,  har- 
mony, and  beauty,  all  the  God-given  faculties 
within  you. 

But  whatever  you  do  be  greater  than  your 
'calling;  let  your  manhood  overtop  your  posi- 
tion, your  wealth,  your  occupation,  your 
title.  A man  must  work  hard  and  study  hard 
to  counteract  the  narrowing,  hardening  ten- 
dency of  his  occupation.  Said  Goldsmith, — 

Burke,  born  for  the  universe,  narrowed  his  ntind. 

And  to  party  gave  up  what  was  meant  for  man- 
kind. 

“ Constant  engagement  in  traffic  and  barter 
has  no  elevating  influence,”  says  Lyndall. 
“ The  endeavor  to  obtain  the  upper  hand  of 
those  with  whom  we  have  to  deal,  to  make 
good  bargains,  the  higgling  and  scheming, 
and  the  thousand  petty  artifices,  which  in 
these  days  of  stern  competition  are  unscrup- 
ulously resorted  to,  tend  to  narrow  the  sphere 
and  to  lessen  the  strength  of  the  intellect,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  the  delicacy  of  the  moral 
sense.” 

Choose  upward,  study  the  men  in  the  voca- 
tion you  think  of  adopting.  Does  it  elevate 
those  who  follow  it?  Are  they  broad,  lib- 


CHOOSING  A VOCATION  267 

eral,  intelligent  men?  Or  have  they  become 
mere  appendages  of  their  profession,  living 
in  a rut  with  no  standing  in  the  jcommunity, 
and  of  no  use  to  it?  Don’t  think  you 
will  be  the  great  exception,  and  can  enter  a 
questionable  vocation  without  becoming  a 
creature  of  it.  In  spite  of  all  your  determina- 
tion and  will  power  to  the  contrary,  your  oc- 
cupation, from  the  very  law  of  association 
and  habit,  will  seize  you  as  in  a vise,  will 
mold  you,  shape  you,  fashion  you,  and  stamp 
its  inevitable  impress  upon  you. 

How  frequently  do  we  see  bright,  open- 
hearted,  generous  young  men  come  out  of 
college  with  high  hopes  and  lofty  aims,  enter 
a doubtful  vocation,  and  in  a few  years  re- 
turn to  college  commencement  so  changed 
that  they  are  scarcely  recognized.  The  once 
broad,  noble  features  have  become  con- 
tracted and  narrowed.  The  man  has  become 
grasping,  avaricious,  stingy,  mean,  hard.  Is 
it  possible,  we  ask,  that  a few  years  could  so 
cfiange  a magnanimous  and  generous  youth? 

'Go  to  the  bottom  if  you  would  get  to  the 
top.  Be  master  of  your  calling  in  all  its  de- 
tails. Nothing  is  small  which  concerns  your 
business. 

Thousands  of  men  who  have  been  failures 


268  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


in  life  have  done  drudgery  enough  in  half  a 
dozen  different  occupations  to  have  enabled 
them  to  reach  great  success,  if  their  pfforts 
had  all  been  expended  in  one  direction.^  That 
mechanic  is  a failure  who  starts  out  to  build 
an  engine,  but  does  not  quite  accomplish  it, 
and  shifts  into  some  other  occupation  where 
perhaps  he  will  almost  succeed,  but  stops 
just  short  of  the  point  of  proficiency  in  his 
acquisition  and  so  fails  again.  The  world 
is  full  of  people  who  are  “ almost  a success.” 
They  stop  just  this  side  of  success.  Their 
courage  oozes  out  just  before  they  become 
expert.  How  many  of  us  have  acquisitions 
which  remain  permanently  unavailable  be- 
cause not  carried  quite  to  the  point  of  skill? 
How  many  people  “ almost  know  a language 
or  two,”  which  they  can  neither  write  nor 
speak;  a science  or  two  whose  elements  they 
have  not  quite  acquired ; an  art  or  two  par- 
tially mastered,  but  which  they  can  not  prac- 
tise with  satisfaction  or  profit!  The  habit  of 
desultoriness,  which  has  been  acquired  by  al- 
lowing yourself  to  abandon  a half-finished 
work,  more  than  balances  any  little  skill 
gained  in  one  vocation  which  might  possibly 
be  of  use  later. 

Beware  of  that  frequently  fatal  gift,  ver- 


CHOOSING  A VOCATION  269 


satility.  Many  a person  misses  being  a great 
man  by  splitting  into  two  middling  ones. 
Universality  is  the  ignis  fatuus  which  has  de- 
luded to  ruin  many  a promising  mind.  In 
attempting  to  gain  a knowledge  of  half  a 
hundred  subjects  it  has  mastered  none.  “ The 
jack-of-all-trades,”  says  one  of  the  foremost 
manufacturers  of  this  country,  “ had  a chance 
in  my  generation.  In  this  he  has  none.” 

“ The  measure  of  a man’s  learning  will  be 
the  amount  of  his  voluntary  ignorance,”  said 
Thoreau.  If  we  go  into  a factory  where  the 
mariner’s  compass  is  made  we  can  see  the 
needles  before  they  are  magnetized,  they  will 
point  in  any  direction.  But  when  they  have 
been  applied  to  the  magnet  and  received  its 
peculiar  power,  from  that  moment  they  point 
to  the  north,  and  are  true  to  the  pole  ever 
after.  So  man  never  points  steadily  in  any 
direction  until  he  has  been  polarized  by  a 
great  master  purpose. 

Give  your  life,  your  energy,  your  enthu- 
siasm, all  to  the  highest  work  of  which  you 
are  capable.  Canon  Farrar  said,  “ There  is 
only  one  real  failure  in  life  possible,  and  that 
is,  not  to  be  true  to  the  best  one  knows.” 

“ What  must  I do  to  be  forever  known  ? Thy  duty 
ever.” 


270  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Who  does  the  best  his  circumstance  allows. 

Does  well,  acts  nobly,  angels  could  do  no  more. 

Young. 

“ Whoever  can  make  two  ears  of  corn,  two 
blades  of  grass  to  grow  upon  a spot  of  ground 
where  only  one  grew  before,”  says  Swift, 
“ would  deserve  better  of  mankind  and  do 
more  essential  service  to  his  country  than  the 
whole  race  of  politicians  put  together.” 


XIV.  THE  MAN  WITH  AN  IDEA 


He  who  wishes  to  fulfil  his  mission  must  be  a 
man  of  one  idea,  that  is,  of  one  great  overmastering 
purpose,  overshadowing  all  his  aims,  and  guiding 
and  controlling  his  entire  life. — Bate. 

A healthful  hunger  for  a great  idea  is  the  beauty 
and  blessedness  of  life. — Jean  Ingelow. 

A profound  conviction  raises  a man  above  the 
feeling  of  ridicule. — J.  Stuart  Mill. 

Ideas  go  booming  through  the  world  louder  than 
cannon.  Thoughts  are  mightier  than  armies.  Prin- 
ciples have  achieved  more  victories  than  horsemen 
or  chariots. — W.  M.  Paxton. 

HAT  are  you  bothering  your- 
selves with  a knitting  ma- 
chine for?”  asked  Ari  Davis, 
of  Boston,  a manufacturer  of 
instruments  ; “ why  don’t  you 
make  a sewing-machine  ? ” 
His  advice  had  been  sought  by  a rich  man  and 
an  inventor  who  had  reached  their  wits’  ends 
in  the  vain  attempt  to  produce  a device  for 
knitting  woolen  goods.  “ I wish  I could, 
but  it  can’t  be  done.”  “ Oh,  yes  it  can,”  said 
Davis ; “ I can  make  one  myself.”  “ Well,” 
the  capitalist  replied,  “ you  do  it,  and  I’ll 
insure  you  an  independent  fortune.”  The 
271 


272  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


words  of  Davis  were  uttered  in  a spirit  of 
jest,  but  the  novel  idea  found  lodgment  in  the 
mind  of  one  of  the  workmen  who  stood  by,  a 
mere  youth  of  twenty,  who  was  thought  not 
capable  of  a serious  idea. 

But  Elias  How'e  was  not  so  rattle-headed 
as  he  seemed,  and  the  more  he  reflected,  the 
more  desirable  such  a machine  appeared  to 
him.  Four  years  passed,  and  with  a wdfe  and 
three  children  to  support  in  a great  city  on 
a salary  of  nine  dollars  a week,  the  light- 
hearted boy  had  become  a thoughtful,  plod- 
ding man.  The  thought  of  the  sewing-ma- 
chine haunted  him  night  and  day,  and  he 
finally  resolved  to  produce  one. 

After  months  wasted  in  the  effort  to  work  a 
needle  pointed  at  both  ends,  with  the  eye  in 
the  middle,  that  should  pass  up  and  down 
through  the  cloth,  suddenly  the  thought 
flashed  through  his  mind  that  another  stitch 
must  be  possible,  and  with  almost  insane  de- 
votion he  worked  night  and  day,  until  he  had 
made  a rough  model  of  wood  and  wire  that 
convinced  him  of  ultimate  success.  In  his 
mind’s  eye  he  saw  his  idea,  but  his  own  funds 
and  those  of  his  father,  who  had  aided  him 
more  or  less,  were  insufficient  to  embody  it  in 
a working  machine.  But  help  came  from  an 


THE  MAN  WITH  AN  IDEA  273 


old  schoolmate,  George  Eisher,  a coal  and 
wood  merchant  of  Cambridge.  He  agreed  to 
board  Elias  and  his  family  and  furnish  five 
hundred  dollars,  for  which  he  was  to  have 
one-half  of  the  patent,  if  the  machine  proved 
to  be  worth  patenting.  In  May,  1845,  the  ma- 
chine was  completed,  and  in  July  Elias  Howe 
sewed  all  the  seams  of  two  suits  of  woolen 
clothes,  one  for  Mr.  Fisher  and  the  other  for 
himself.  The  sewing  outlasted  the  cloth.  This 
machine,  which  is  still  preserved,  will  sew 
three  hundred  stitches  a minute,  and  is  con- 
sidered more  nearly  perfect  than  any  other 
prominent  invention  at  its  first  trial.  There  is 
not  one  of  the  millions  of  sewing-machines 
now  in  use  that  does  not  contain  some  of  the 
essential  principles  of  this  first  attempt. 

When  it  was  decided  to  try  and  elevate 
Chicago  out  of  the  mud  by  raising  its  im- 
mense blocks  up  to  grade,  the  young  son  of 
a poor  mechanic,  named  George  M.  Pull- 
man, appeared  on  the  scene,  and  put  in  a bid 
for  the  great  undertaking,  and  the  contract 
was  awarded  to  him.  He  not  only  raised  the 
blocks,  but  did  it  in  such  a way  that  business 
within  them  was  scarcely  interrupted.  All 
this  time  he  was  revolving  in  his  mind  his 
pet  project  of  building  a “sleeping  car” 


274  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


which  would  be  adopted  on  all  railroads.  He 
fitted  up  two  old  cars  on  the  Chicago  and 
Alton  road  with  berths,  and  soon  found  they 
would  be  in  demand.  He  then  went  to  work 
on  the  principle  that  the  more  luxurious  his 
cars  were,  the  greater  would  be  the  demand 
for  them.  After  spending  three  years  in  Col- 
orado gold  mines,  he  returned  and  built  two 
cars  which  cost  $18,000  each.  Everybody 
laughed  at  “ Pullman’s  folly.”  But  Pull- 
man believed  that  whatever  relieved  the 
tediousness  of  long  trips  would  meet  with 
speedy  approval,  and  he  had  faith  enough  in 
his  idea  to  risk  his  all  in  it. 

Pullman  was  a great  believer  in  the  com- 
mercial value  of  beauty.  The  wonderful 
town  which  he  built  and  which  bears  his 
name,  as  well  as  his  magnificent  cars,  is  an 
example  of  his  belief  in  this  principle.  He 
counts  it  a good  investment  to  surround  his 
employees  with  comforts  and  beauty  and  good 
sanitary  conditions,  and  so  the  town  of  Pull- 
man is  a model  of  cleanliness,  order,  and 
comfort. 

It  has  ever  been  the  man  with  an  idea, 
which  he  puts  into  practical  effect,  who  has 
changed  the  face  of  Christendom.  The  germ 
idea  of  the  steam  engine  can  be  seen  in  the 


THE  MAN  WITH  AN  IDEA  275 


writings  of  the  Greek  philosophers,  but  it  was 
not  developed  until  more  than  two  thousand 
years  later. 

It  was  an  English  blacksmith,  Newcomen, 
with  no  opportunities,  who  in  the  seventeenth 
century  conceived  the  idea  of  moving  a pis- 
ton by  the  elastic  force  of  steam ; but  his  en- 
gine consumed  thirty  pounds  of  coal  in  pro- 
ducing one  horse  power.  The  perfection  of 
the  modern  engine  is  largely  due  to  James 
Watt,  a poor,  uneducated  Scotch  boy,  who  at 
fifteen  walked  the  streets  of  London  in  a vain 
search  for  work.  A professor  in  the  Glasgow 
University  gave  him  the  use  of  a room  to 
work  in,  and  while  waiting  for  jobs  he  ex- 
perimented with  old  vials  for  steam  reser- 
voirs and  hollow  canes  for  pipes,  for  he  could 
not  bear  to  waste  a moment.  He  improved 
Newcomen’s  engine  by  cutting  off  the  steam 
after  the  piston  had  completed  a quarter  or 
a third  of  its  stroke,  and  letting  the  steam 
already  in  the  chamber  expand  and  drive  the 
piston  the  remaining  distance.  This  saved 
nearly  three-fourths  of  the  steam.  Watt  suf- 
fered from  pinching  poverty  and  hardships 
which  would  have  disheartened  ordinary  men ; 
but  he  was  terribly  in  earnest,  and  his  brave 
wife  Margaret  begged  him  not  to  mind  her 


276  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


inconvenience,  nor  be  discouraged.  “ If  the 
engine  will  not  work,”  she  wrote  him  while 
struggling  in  London,  “ something  else  will. 
Never  despair.” 

“ I had  gone  to  take  a walk,”  said  Watt, 
“on  a fine  Sabbath  afternoon,  and  had  passed 
the  old  washing-house,  thinking  upon  the  en- 
gine at  the  time,  when  the  idea  came  into  my 
head  that,  as  steam  is  an  elastic  body,  it 
would  rush  into  a vacuum,  and  if  a communi- 
cation were  made  between  the  cylinder  and 
an  exhausted  vessel,  it  w'ould  rush  into  it,  and 
might  be  there  condensed  without  cooling  the 
cylinder.”  The  idea  was  simple,  but  in  it 
lay  the  germ  of  the  first  steam  engine  of 
much  practical  value.  Sir  James  Mackintosh 
places  this  poor  Scotch  boy  who  began  with 
only  an  idea  “at  the  head  of  all  inventors  in 
all  ages  and  all  nations.” 

See  George  Stephenson,  working  in  the 
coal  pits  for  sixpence  a day,  patching  the 
clothes  and  mending  the  boots  of  his  fellow- 
W'orkmen  at  night,  to  earn  a little  money  to 
attend  a night  school,  giving  the  first  money 
he  ever  earned,  $150,  to  his  blind  father  to 
pay  his  debts.  People  say  he  is  crazy ; his 
“ roaring  steam  engine  will  set  the  house  on 
fire  with  its  sparks  ” ; “ smoke  will  pollute  the 


THE  MAN  WITH  AN  IDEA  277 


air  ” ; “ carriage  makers  and  coachmen  will 
starve  for  want  of  work.”  For  three  days  the 
committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  plies 
questions  to  him.  This  was  one  of  them : 
“ If  a cow  get  on  the  track  of  the  engine  trav- 
eling ten  miles  an  hour,  will  it  not  be  an 
awkward  situation?”  “Yes,  very  awkward, 
indeed,  for  the  poo,”  replied  Stephenson. 
A government  inspector  said  that  if  a loco- 
motive ever  went  ten  miles  an  hour,  he  would 
undertake  to  eat  a stewed  engine  for  break- 
fast. 

“ What  pan  be  more  palpably  absurd  and 
ridiculous  than  the  prospect  held  out  of  loco- 
motives traveling  twice  as  fast  as  horses?” 
asked  a writer  in  the  English  “ Quarterly  Re- 
view ” for  March,  1825.  “ We  should  as  soon 
expect  the  people  of  Woolwich  to  suffer  them- 
selves to  be  fired  off  upon  one  of  Congreve’s 
rockets  as  to  trust  themselves  to  the  mercy  of 
such  a machine,  going  at  such  a rate.  We 
trust  that  Parliament  will,  in  all  the  railways 
it  may  grant,  limit  the  speed  to  eight  or  nine 
miles  an  hour,  which  we  entirely  agree  with 
Mr.  Sylvester  is  as  great  as  can  be  ventured 
upon.”  This  article  referred  to  Stephenson’s 
proposition  to  use  his  newly  invented  locomo- 
tive instead  of  horses  on  the  Liverpool  and 


278  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


Manchester  Railroad,  then  in  process  of  con- 
struction. 

The  company  decided  to  lay  the  matter  be- 
fore two  leading  English  engineers,  who  re- 
ported that  steam  would  be  desirable  only 
when  used  in  stationary  engines  one  and  a 
half  miles  apart,  drawing  the  cars  by  means 
of  ropes  and  pulleys.  But  Stephenson  per- 
suaded them  to  test  his  idea  by  offering  a 
prize  of  about  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  for 
the  best  locomotive  produced  at  a trial  to  take 
place  October  6,  1829. 

On  the  eventful  day,  thousands  of  specta- 
tors assembled  to  watch  the  competition  of 
four  engines,  the  “ Novelty,”  the  “ Rocket,” 
the  “ Perseverance,”  and  the  “ Sanspareil.” 
The  “ Perseverance  ” could  make  but  six 
miles  an  hour,  and  so  was  ruled  out,  as  the 
conditions  called  for  at  least  ten.  The  “ Sans- 
pareil ” made  an  average  of  fourteen  miles  an 
hour,  but  as  it  burst  a water-pipe  it  lost  its 
chance.  The  “ Novelty  ” did  splendidly,  but 
also  burst  a pipe,  and  was  crowded  out,  leav- 
ing the  “ Rocket  ” to  carry  off  the  honors  with 
an  average  speed  of  fifteen  miles  an  hour,  the 
highest  rate  attained  being  twenty-nine.  This 
was  Stephenson’s  locomotive,  and  so  fully 
vindicated  his  theory  that  the  idea  of  station- 


THE  MAN  WITH  AN  IDEA  279 


ary  engines  on  a railroad  was  completely  ex- 
ploded. He  had  picked  up  the  fixed  engines 
which  the  genius  of  Watt  had  devised,  and 
set  them  on  wheels  to  draw  men  and  mer- 
chandise, against  the  most  direful  predictions 
of  the  foremost  engineers  of  his  day. 

In  all  the  records  of  invention  there  is  no 
more  sad  or  affecting  story  than  that  of  John 
Fitch.  Poor  he  was  in  many  senses,  poor  in 
appearance,  poor  in  spirit.  He  was  born 
poor,  lived  poor,  and  died  poor.  If  there  ever 
was  a true  inventor,  this  man  was  one.  He 
was  one  of  those  eager  souls  that  would  coin 
their  own  flesh  to  carry  their  point.  He  only 
uttered  the  obvious  truth  when  he  said  one 
day,  in  a crisis  of  his  invention,  that  if  he 
could  get  one  hundred  pounds  by  cutting  off 
one  of  his  legs  he  would  gladly  give  it  to  the 
knife. 

He  tried  in  vain  both  in  this  country 
and  in  France  to  get  money  to  build  his 
steamboat.  He  would  say ; “ You  and  I will 
not  live  to  see  the  day,  but  the  time  will 
(Come  when  the  steamboat  will  be  preferred  to 
all  other  modes  of  conveyance,  when  steam- 
boats will  ascend  the  Western  rivers  from 
New  Orleans  to  Wheeling,  and  when  steam- 
boats will  cross  the  ocean.  Johnny  Fitch  will 


28o  rising  in  the  WORLD 


be  forgotten,  but  other  men  will  carry  out 
his  ideas  and  grow  rich  and  great  upon  them.” 

Poor,  ragged,  forlorn,  jeered  at,  pitied  as 
a madman,  discouraged  by  the  great,  refused 
by  the  rich,  he  kept  on  till,  in  1790,  he  had 
the  first  vessel  on  the  Delaware  that  ever  an- 
swered the  purpose  of  a steamboat.  It  ran  six 
miles  an  hour  against  the  tide,  and  eight  miles 
with  it. 

At  noon,  on  Friday,  August  4,  1807,  a 
crowd  of  curious  people  might  have  been 
seen  along  the  wharves  of  the  Hudson  River. 
They  had  gathered  to  witness  what  they  con- 
sidered a ridiculous  failure  of  a “ crank  ” 
who  proposed  to  take  a party  of  people  up 
the  Hudson  River  to  Albany  in  what  he 
called  a steam  vessel  named  the  Clermont. 
Did  anybody  ever  hear  of  such  a ridiculous 
idea  as  navigating  against  the  current  up  the 
Hudson  in  a vessel  without  sails  ? “ The 

thing  will  ‘ bust,’  ” says  one ; “ it  will  burn 
up,”  says  another,  and  “ they  will  all  be 
drowned,”  exclaims  a third,  as  he  sees  vast 
columns  of  black  smoke  shoot  up  with  show- 
ers of  brilliant  sparks.  Nobody  present,  in  all 
probability,  ever  heard  of  a boat  going  by 
steam.  It  was  the  opinion  of  everybody  that 
the  man  who  had  fooled  aw^y  his  money 


THE  MAN  WITH  AN  IDEA  281 


and  his  time  on  the  Clermont  was  little  bet- 
ter than  an  idiot,  and  ought  to  be  in  an 
insane  asylum.  But  the  passengers  go  on 
board,  the  plank  is  pulled  in,  and  the  steam 
is  turned  on.  The  walking  beam  moves 
slowly  up  and  down,  and  the  Clermont  floats 
out  into  the  river.  “ It  can  never  go  up 
stream,”  the  spectators  persist.  But  it  did 
go  up  stream,  and  the  boy,  who  in  his  youth 
said  there  is  nothing  impossible,  had  scored 
a great  triumph,  and  had  given  to  the  world 
the  first  steamboat  that  had  any  practical 
value. 

Notwithstanding  that  Fulton  had  rendered 
such  great  service  to  humanity,  a service 
which  has  revolutionized  the  commerce  of  the 
world,  he  was  looked  upon  by  many  as  a pub- 
lic enemy.  Critics  and  cynics  turned  up  their 
noses  when  Fulton  was  mentioned.  The  se- 
verity of  the  world’s  censure,  ridicule,  and 
detraction  has  usually  been  in  proportion  to 
the  benefit  the  victim  has  conferred  upon 
mankind. 

As  the  Clermont  burned  pine  wood,  dense 
columns  of  fire  and  smoke  belched  forth  from 
her  smoke-stack  while  she  glided  trium- 
phantly up  the  river,  and  the  inhabitants  along 
the  banks  were  utterly  unable  to  account  for 


282  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


the  spectacle.  They  rushed  to  the  shore 
amazed  to  see  a boat  “ on  fire  ” go  against  the 
stream  so  rapidly  with  neither  oars  nor  sails. 
The  noise  of  her  great  paddle-wheels  in- 
creased the  wonder.  Sailors  forsook  their 
vessels,  and  fishermen  rowed  home  as  fast  as 
possible  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  the  fire 
monster.  The  Indians  were  as  much  fright- 
ened as  their  predecessors  were  when  the 
first  ship  approached  their  hunting-ground  on 
Manhattan  Island.  The  owners  of  sailing- 
vessels  were  jealous  of  the  Clermont,  and 
tried  to  run  her  down.  Others  whose  inter- 
ests were  affected  denied  Fulton’s  claim  to 
the  invention  and  brought  suits  against  him. 
But  the  success  of  the  Clermont  soon  led  to 
the  construction  of  other  steamships  all  over 
the  country.  The  government  employed 
Fulton  to  aid  in  building  a powerful  steam 
frigate,  which  was  called  Fulton  the  First. 
He  also  built  a diving  boat  for  the  govern- 
ment for  the  discharge  of  torpedoes.  By  this 
time  his  fame  had  spread  all  over  the  civilized 
world,  and  when  he  died,  in  1815,  newspapers 
were  marked  with  black  lines ; the  legislature 
of  New  York  wore  badges  of  mourning;  and 
minute  guns  were  fired  as  the  long  funeral 
procession  passed  to  old  Trinity  churchyard. 


THE  MAN  WITH  AN  IDEA  283 


Very  few  private  persons  were  ever  honored 
with  such  a burial. 

True,  Dr.  Lardner  had  “ proved  ” to  scien- 
tific men  that  a steamship  could  not  cross  the 
Atlantic,  but  in  1819  the  Savannah  from  New 
York  appeared  off  the  coast  of  Ireland  under 
sail  and  steam,  having  made  this  “ impos- 
sible” passage.  Those  on  shore  thought  that 
a fire  had  broken  out  below  the  decks,  and  a 
king’s  cutter  was  sent  to  her  relief.  Although 
the  voyage  was  made  without  accident,  it  was 
nearly  twenty  years  before  it  was  admitted 
that  steam  navigation  could  be  made  a com- 
mercial success  in  ocean  traffic. 

As  Junius  Smith  impatiently  paced  the  deck 
of  a vessel  sailing  from  an  English  port  to 
New  York,  on  a rough  and  tedious  voyage  in 
1832,  he  said  to  himself,  “ Why  not  cross  the 
ocean  regularly  in  steamships?”  In  New 
York  and  in  London  a deaf  ear  was  turned  to 
any  such  nonsense.  Smith’s  first  encourage- 
ment came  from  George  Grote,  the  historian 
and  banker,  who  said  the  idea  was  practica- 
ble ; but  it  was  the  same  old  story, — he  would 
risk  no  money  in  it.  At  length  Isaac  Selby, 
a prominent  business  man  of  London,  agreed 
to  build  a steamship  of  two  thousand  tons, 
the  British  Queen.  An  unexpected  delay  in 


284  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


fitting  the  engines  led  the  projectors  to  char- 
ter the  Sirius,  a river  steamer  of  seven  hun- 
dred tons,  and  send  her  to  New  York.  Learn- 
ing of  this,  other  parties  started  from  Bristol 
four  days  later  in  the  Great  Western,  and 
both  vessels  arrived  at  New  York  the  same 
day.  Soon  after  Smith  made  the  round  trip 
between  London  and  New  York  in  thirty- 
two  days. 

What  a sublime  picture  of  determination 
and  patience  was  that  of  Charles  Goodyear, 
of  New  Haven,  buried  in  poverty  and  strug- 
gling with  hardships  for  eleven  long  years, 
to  make  India  rubber  of  practical  use ! See 
him  in  prison  for  debt ; pawning  his  clothes 
and  his  wife’s  jewelry  to  get  a little  money 
to  keep  his  children  (who  were  obliged  to 
gather  sticks  in  the  field  for  fire)  from  starv- 
ing. Watch  his  sublime  courage  and  devotion 
to  his  idea,  when  he  had  no  money  to  buiy  a 
dead  child  and  when  his  other  five  were  near 
starvation ; when  his  neighbors  were  harshly 
criticizing  him  for  his  neglect  of  his  family 
and  calling  him  insane.  But,  behold  his  vul- 
canized rubber ; the  result  of  that  heroic 
struggle,  applied  to  over  five  hundred  uses  by 
100,000  employees. 

What  a pathetic  picture  was  that  of  Palissy, 


THE  MAN  WITH  AN  IDEA  285 


plodding  on  through  want  and  woe  to  re- 
discover the  lost  art  of  enameling  pottery ; 
building  his  furnaces  with  bricks  carried  on 
his  back,  seeing  his  six  children  die  of  neglect, 
probably  of  starvation,  his  wife  in  rags  and 
despair  over  her  husband’s  “ folly  ” ; despised 
by  his  neighbors  for  neglecting  his  family, 
worn  to  a skeleton  himself,  giving  his  clothes 
to  his  hired  man  because  he  could  not  pay 
him  in  money,  hoping  always,  failing  steadily, 
until  at  last  his  great  work  was  accomplished, 
and  he  reaped  his  reward. 

German  unity  was  the  idea  engraven  upon 
Bismarck’s  heart.  What  cared  this  hercu- 
lean despot  for  the  Diet  chosen  year  after 
year  simply  to  vote  down  every  measure  he 
proposed?  He  was  indifferent  to  all  opposi- 
tion. He  simply  defied  and  sent  home  every 
Diet  which  opposed  him.  He  jcould  play  the 
game  alone.  To  make  Germany  the  greatest 
power  in  Europe,  to  make  William  of  Prus- 
sia a greater  potentate  than  Napoleon  or 
Alexander,  was  his  all-absorbing  purpose.  It 
mattered  not  what  stood  in  his  way,  whether 
people.  Diet,  or  nation ; all  must  bend  to  his 
mighty  will.  Germany  must  hold  the  decid- 
ing voice  in  the  Areopagus  of  the  world.  He 
rode  roughshod  over  everybody  and  every- 


286  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


thing  that  stood  in  his  way,  defiant  of  oppo- 
sition, imperious,  irrepressible! 

See  the  great  Dante  in  exile,  condemned  to 
be  burnt  alive  on  false  charges  of  embezzle- 
ment. Look  at  his  starved  features,  gaunt 
form,  melancholy,  a poor  wanderer;  but  he 
never  gave  up  his  idea ; he  poured  out  his 
very  soul  into  his  immortal  poem,  ever  believ- 
ing that  right  would  at  last  triumph. 

Columbus  was  exposed  to  continual  scoffs 
and  indignities,  being  ridiculed  as  a mere 
dreamer  and  stigmatized  as  an  adventurer. 
The  very  children,  it  is  said,  pointed  to  their 
foreheads  as  he  passed,  being  taught  to  re- 
gard him  as  a kind  of  madman. 

An  American  was  once  invited  to  dine  with 
Oken,  the  famous  German  naturalist.  To  his 
surprise,  they  had  neither  meats  nor  dessert, 
but  only  baked  potatoes.  Oken  was  too 
great  a man  to  apologize  for  their  simple 
fare.  His  wife  explained,  however,  that  her 
husband’s  income  was  very  small,  and  that 
they  preferred  to  live  simply  in  order  that  he 
might  obtain  books  and  instruments  for  his 
scientific  researches. 

Before  the  discovery  of  ether  it  often  took 
a week,  in  some  cases  a month,  to  recover 
from  the  enormous  dose,  sometimes  five  hun- 


THE  MAN  WITH  AN  IDEA  287 


dred  drops  of  laudanum,  given  to  a patient  to 
deaden  the  pain  during  a surgical  operation. 
Young  Dr.  Morton  believed  that  there  must 
be  some  means  provided  by  Nature  to  relieve 
human  suffering  during  these  terrible  opera- 
tions; but  what  could  he  do?  He  was  not 
a chemist;  he  did  not  know  the  properties  of 
chemical  substances;  he  was  not  liberally  ed- 
ucated. 

Dr.  Morton  did  not  resort  to  books,  how- 
ever, nor  did  he  go  to  scientific  men  for  ad- 
vice, but  immediately  began  to  experiment 
with  well-known  substances.  He  tried  intoxi- 
cants even  to  the  point  of  intoxication,  but  as 
soon  as  the  instruments  were  applied  the  pa- 
tient would  revive.  He  kept  on  experiment- 
ing with  narcotics  in  this  manner  until  at  last 
he  found  what  he  sought  in  ether. 

What  a grand  idea  Bishop  Vincent  worked 
out  for  the  young  world  in  the  Chautauqua 
Circle,  Dr.  Clark  in  his  world-wide  Christian 
Endeavor  movement,  the  Methodist  Church 
in  the  Epworth  League,  Edward  Everett 
Hale  in  his  little  bands  of  King’s  Daugh- 
ters and  Ten  Times  One  is  Ten!  Here  is 
Clara  Barton  who  has  created  the  Red  Cross 
Society,  which  is  loved  by  all  nations.  She 
noticed  in  our  Civil  War  that  the  Confeder- 


288  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


ates  were  shelling  the  hospital.  She  thought 
it  the  last  touch  of  cruelty  to  fight  what 
couldn’t  fight  back,  and  she  determined  to 
have  the  barbarous  custom  stopped.  Of 
course  the  world  laughed  at  this  poor  unaided 
woman.  But  her  idea  has  been  adopted  by 
all  nations ; and  the  enemy  that  aims  a shot 
at  the  tent  or  building  over  which  flies  the 
white  flag  with  the  red  cross  has  lost  his  last 
claim  to  human  consideration. 

In  all  ages  those  who  have  advanced  the 
cause  of  humanity  have  been  men  and  women 
“ possessed,”  in  the  opinion  of  their  neigh- 
bors. Noah  in  building  the  ark,  Moses  in 
espousing  the  cause  of  the  Israelites,  or  Christ 
in  living  and  dying  to  save  a fallen  race,  in- 
curred the  pity  and  scorn  of  the  rich  and 
highly  educated,  in  common  with  all  great 
benefactors.  Yet  in  every  age  and  in  every 
clime  men  and  women  have  been  willing  to 
incur  poverty,  hardship,  toil,  ridicule,  perse- 
cution, or  even  death,  if  thereby  they  might 
shed  light  or  comfort  upon  the  path  which 
all  must  walk  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave. 
In  fact  it  is  doubtful  whether  a man  can  per- 
form very  great  service  to  mankind  who  is 
not  permeated  with  a great  purpose — with  an 
overmastering  idea. 


THE  MAN  WITH  AN  IDEA  289 


Beecher  had  to  fight  every  step  of  the  way 
to  his  triumph  through  obstacles  which  would 
have  appalled  all  but  the  greatest  characters. 
Oftentimes  in  these  great  battles  for  princi- 
ple and  struggles  for  truth,  he  stood  almost 
alone  fighting  popular  prejudice,  narrowness, 
and  bigotry,  uncharitableness  and  envy  even 
in  his  own  church.  But  he  never  hesitated 
nor  wavered  when  he  once  saw  his  duty. 
There  was  no  shilly-shallying,  no  hunting  for 
a middle  ground  between  right  and  wrong,  no 
compromise  on  principles.  He  hewed  close 
to  the  chalk  line  and  held  his  line  plumb  to 
truth.  He  never  pandered  for  public  favor 
nor  sought  applause.  Duty  and  truth  were 
his  goal,  and  he  went  straight  to  his  mark. 
Other  churches  did  not  agree  with  him  nor 
his,  but  he  was  too  broad  for  hatred,  too 
charitable  for  revenge,  and  too  magnanimous 
for  envy. 

What  tale  of  the  “ Arabian  Nights  ” equals 
in  fascination  the  story  of  such  lives  as  those 
of  Franklin,  of  Morse,  Goodyear,  Howe, 
Edison,  Bell,  Beecher,  Gough,  Mrs.  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe,  Amos  Lawrence,  George  Pea- 
body, McCormick,  Hoe,  and  scores  of  others, 
each  representing  some  great  idea  embodied 
in  earnest  action,  and  resulting  in  an  improve- 


290  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


merit  of  the  physical,  mental,  and  moral  con- 
dition of  those  around  them? 

There  are  plenty  of  ideas  left  in  the  world 
yet.  Everything  has  not  been  invented.  All 
good  things  have  not  been  done.  There  are 
thousands  of  abuses  to  rectify,  and  each  one 
challenges  the  independent  soul,  armed  with 
a new  idea. 

“ But  how  shall  I get  ideas  ? ” Keep  your 
wits  open ! Observe ! Study ! But  above 
all.  Think!  and  when  a noble  image  is  indel- 
ibly impressed  upon  the  mind — Act! 


XV.  DECISION 


Resolve,  and  thou  art  free. — Longfellow. 

The  heaviest  charged  words  in  our  language  are 
those  briefest  ones,  “ yes  ” and  “ no.”  One  stands 
for  the  surrender  of  the  will,  the  other  for  denial; 
one  stands  for  gratification,  the  other  for  character. 
A stout  “ no  ” means  a stout  character,  the  ready 
“ yes  ” a weak  one,  gild  it  as  we  may. — T.  T. 
Monger. 

The  world  is  a market  where  everything  is 
marked  at  a set  price,  and  whatever  we  buy  with 
our  time,  labor,  or  ingenuity,  whether  riches,  ease, 
fame,  integrity,  or  knowledge,  we  must  stand  by  our 
decision,  and  not  like  children,  when  we  have  pur- 
chased one  thing,  repine  that  we  do  not  possess 
another  we  did  not  buy. — Mathews. 

A man  must  master  his  undertaking  and  not  let 
it  master  him.  He  must  have  the  power  to  decide 
instantly  on  which  side  he  is  going  to  make  his 
mistakes. — P.  D.  Armour. 

HEN  Rome  was  besieged  by 
the  Gauls  in  the  time  of  the 
Republic,  the  Romans  were 
so  hard  pressed  that  they 
consented  to  purchase  im- 
munity with  gold.  They 
were  in  the  act  of  weighing  it,  a legend  tells 
us,  when  Camillus  appeared  on  the  scene, 
291 


292  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


threw  his  sword  into  the  scales  in  place  of 
the  ransom,  and  declared  that  the  Romans 
should  not  purchase  peace,  but  would  win  it 
iwith  the  sword.  This  act  of  daring  and 
prompt  decision  so  roused  the  Romans  that 
they  triumphantly  swept  from  the  sacred  soil 
the  enemy  of  their  peace. 

In  an  emergency,  the  arrival  of  a prompt, 
decided,  positive  man,  who  will  do  something, 
although  it  may  be  wrong,  changes  the  face 
of  everything.  Such  a man  comes  upon  the 
scene  like  a refreshing  breeze  blown  down 
from  the  mountain  top.  He  is  a tonic  to  the 
hesitating,  bewildered  crowd. 

When  Antiochus  Epiphanes  invaded  Eg}’pt, 
which  was  then  under  the  protection  of 
Rome,  the  Romans  sent  an  ambassador  who 
met  Antiochus  near  Alexandria  and  com- 
manded him  to  withdraw.  The  invader  gave 
an  evasive  reply.  The  brave  Roman  swept  a 
circle  around  the  king  with  his  sword,  and 
forbade  his  crossing  the  line  until  he  had 
given  his  answer.  By  the  prompt  decision  of 
the  intrepid  ambassador  the  invader  was  led 
to  withdraw,  and  war  was  prevented.  The 
prompt  decision  of  the  Romans  won  them 
many  a battle,  and  made  them  masters  of  the 
world.  All  the  great  achievements  in  the  his- 


DECISION 


293 

tory  of  the  world  are  the  results  of  quick  and 
steadfast  decision. 

Men  who  have  left  their  mark  upon  their 
century  have  been  men  of  great  and  prompt 
decision.  An  undecided  man,  a man  who  is 
ever  balancing  between  two  opinions,  forever 
debating  which  of  two  courses  he  will  pur- 
sue, proclaims  by  his  indecision  that  he  can 
not  control  himself,  that  he  was  meant  to  be 
possessed  by  others ; he  is  not  a man,  only  a 
satellite.  The  decided  man,  the  prompt  man, 
does  not  wait  for  favorable  circumstances ; 
he  does  not  submit  to  events ; events  must 
submit  to  him. 

The  vacillating  man  is  ever  at  the  mercy 
of  the  opinion  of  the  man  who  talked  with 
him  last.  He  may  see  the  right,  but  he  drifts 
toward  the  wrong.  If  he  decides  upon  a 
course  he  only  follows  it  until  somebody  op- 
poses it. 

When  Julius  Caesar  came  to  the  Rubicon, 
which  formed  the  boundary  of  Italia, — “ the 
sacred  and  inviolable,” — even  his  great  de- 
cision wavered  at  the  thought  of  invading  a 
territory  which  no  general  was  allowed  to 
enter  without  the  permission  of  the  Senate. 
But  his  alternative  was  “ destroy  myself,  or 
destroy  my  country,”  and  his  intrepid  mind 


294  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


did  not  waver  long.  “ The  die  is  cast,”  he 
said,  as  he  dashed  into  the  stream  at  the  head 
of  his  legions.  The  whole  history  of  the 
world  was  changed  by  that  moment’s  decision. 
The  man  who  said,  “ I came,  I saw,  I con- 
quered,” could  not  hesitate  long.  He,  like  Na- 
poleon, had  the  power  to  choose  one  course, 
and  sacrifice  every  conflicting  plan  on  the  in- 
stant. When  he  landed  with  his  troops  in 
Britain,  the  inhabitants  resolved  never  to  sur- 
render, Caesar’s  quick  mind  saw  that  he 
must  commit  his  soldiers  to  victory  or  death. 
In  order  to  cut  off  all  hope  of  retreat,  he 
burned  all  the  ships  which  had  borne  them  to 
the  shores  of  Britain.  There  was  no  hope  of 
return,  it  was  victory  or  death.  This  action 
was  the  key  to  the  character  and  triumphs  of 
this  great  warrior. 

Satan’s  sublime  decision  in  “ Paradise 
Lost,”  after  his  hopeless  banishment  from 
heaven,  excites  a feeling  akin  to  admiration. 
After  a few  moments  of  terrible  suspense  he 
resumes  his  invincible  spirit  and  expresses 
that  sublime  line : “What  matter  where,  if  I 
be  still  the  same?  ” 

That  power  to  decide  instantly  the  best 
course  to  pursue,  and  to  sacrifice  every  op- 
posing motive;  and,  when  once  sacrificed,  to 


DECISION 


295 


silence  them  forever  and  not  allow  them  con- 
tinually to  plead  their  claims  and  distract  us 
from  our  single  decided  course,  is  one  of  the 
most  potent  forces  in  winning  success.  To 
hesitate  is  sometimes  to  be  lost.  In  fact,  the 
man  who  is  forever  twisting  and  turning, 
backing  and  filling,  hesitating  and  dawdling, 
shuffling  and  parleying,  weighing  and  bal- 
ancing, splitting  hairs  over  non-essentials, 
listening  to  every  new  motive  which  presents 
itself,  will  never  accomplish  anything.  There 
is  not  positiveness  enough  in  him ; negative- 
ness never  accomplishes  anything.  The  neg- 
ative man  creates  no  ^confidence ; he  only 
invites  distrust.  But  the  positive  man,  the 
decided  man,  is  a power  in  the  world,  and 
stands  for  something.  You  can  measure  him, 
gauge  him.  You  can  estimate  the  work  that 
his  energy  will  accomplish. 

It  is  related  of  Alexander  the  Great  that, 
when  asked  how  it  was  that  he  had  conquered 
the  world,  he  replied,  “ not  wavering.” 

When  the  packet  ship  Stephen  Whitney 
struck,  at  midnight,  on  an  Irish  cliff,  and 
clung  for  a few  moments  to  the  cliff,  all  the 
passengers  who  leaped  instantly  upon  the 
rock  were  saved.  The  positive  step  landed 
them  in  safety.  Those  who  lingered  were 


296  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


swept  off  by  the  returning  wave,  and  engulfed 
forever. 

The  vacillating  man  is  never  a prompt  man, 
and  without  promptness  no  success  is  pos- 
sible. Great  opportunities  not  only  come  sel- 
dom into  the  most  fortunate  life,  but  also  are 
often  quickly  gone. 

“ A man  without  decision,”  says  John  Fos- 
ter, “ can  never  be  said  to  belong  to  himself ; 
since,  if  he  dared  to  assert  that  he  did,  the 
puny  force  of  some  cause,  about  as  powerful 
as  a spider,  may  make  a seizure  of  the  un- 
happy boaster  the  very  next  minute,  and  con- 
temptuously exhibit  the  futility  of  the  deter- 
mination by  which  he  was  to  have  proved  the 
independence  of  his  understanding  and  will. 
He  belongs  to  whatever  can  make  capture  of 
him ; and  one  thing  after  another  vindicates 
its  right  to  him  by  arresting  him  while  he  is 
trying  to  go  on ; as  twigs  and  chips  floating 
near  the  edge  of  a river  are  intercepted  by 
every  weed  and  whirled  into  every  little  eddy.” 

The  decided  man  not  only  has  the  advan- 
tage of  the  time  saved  from  dillydallying  and 
procrastination,  but  he  also  saves  the  energy 
and  vital  force  which  is  wasted  by  the  per- 
plexed man  who  takes  up  every  argument  on 
one  side  and  then  on  the  other,  and  weighs 


DECISION 


297 


them  until  the  two  sides  hang  in  equipoise, 
with  no  prepondering  motive  to  enable  him  to 
decide.  He  is  in  stable  equilibrium,  and  so 
does  not  move  at  all  of  his  own  volition,  but 
moves  very  easily  at  the  slightest  volition  of 
another. 

Yet  there  is  not  a man  living  who  might 
not  be  a prompt  and  decided  man  if  he  would 
only  learn  always  to  act  quickly.  The  punc- 
tual man,  the  decided  man,  can  do  twice  as 
much  as  the  undecided  and  dawdling  man 
who  never  quite  knows  what  he  wants. 
Prompt  decision  saved  Napoleon  and  Grant 
and  their  armies  many  a time  when  delay 
would  have  been  fatal.  Napoleon  used  to 
say  that  although  a battle  might  last  an  en- 
tire day,  yet  it  generally  turned  upon  a few 
critical  minutes,  in  which  the  fate  of  the  en- 
gagement was  decided.  His  will,  which  sub- 
dued nearly  the  whole  of  Europe,  was  as 
prompt  and  decisive  in  the  minutest  detail  of 
command  as  in  the  greatest  battle. 

Decision  of  purpose  and  promptness  of  ac- 
tion enabled  him  to  astonish  the  world  with 
his  marvelous  successes.  He  seemed  to  be 
everywhere  at  once.  What  he  could  accom- 
plish in  a day  surprised  all  who  knew  him. 
He  seemed  to  electrify  everybody  about  him. 


298  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


His  invincible  energy  thrilled  the  whole 
army.  He  could  rouse  to  immediate  and  en- 
thusiastic action  the  dullest  troops,  and  in- 
spire with  courage  the  most  stupid  men.  The 
“ ifs  and  huts,”  he  said,  “ are  at  present  out 
of  season ; and  above  all  it  must  be  done  with 
speed.”  He  would  sit  up  all  night  if  neces- 
sary, after  riding  thirty  or  forty  leagues,  to 
attend  to  correspondence,  dispatches,  and  de- 
tails. What  a lesson  to  dawdling,  shiftless, 
half-hearted  men ! 

“ The  doubt  of  Charles  V.,”  says  Motley, 
“ changed  the  destinies  of  the  civilized  world.” 

So  powerful  were  President  Washington’s 
views  in  determining  the  actions  of  the  peo- 
ple, that  when  Congress  adjourned,  Jefferson 
wrote  to  Monroe  at  Paris ; “ You  will  see  by 
their  proceedings  the  truth  of  what  I always 
told  you, — namely,  that  one  man  outweighs 
them  all  in  influence,  who  supports  his  judg- 
ment against  their  own  and  that  of  their  rep- 
resentatives. Republicanism  resigns  the  ves- 
sel to  the  pilot.” 

There  is  no  vocation  or  occupation  which 
does  not  present  many  difficulties,  at  times  al- 
most overwhelming,  and  the  young  man  who 
allows  himself  to  waver  every  time  he  comes 
to  a hard  place  in  life  will  not  succeed.  With- 


DECISION 


299 


out  decision  there  can  be  no  concentration ; 
and,  to  succeed,  a man  must  concentrate. 

The  undecided  man  can  not  bring  himself  to 
a focus.  He  dissipates  his  energy,  scatters 
his  forces,  and  executes  nothing.  He  can  not 
hold  to  one  thing  long  enough  to  bring  suc- 
cess out  of  it.  One  vocation  or  occupation 
presents  its  rosy  side  to  him,  he  feels  sure  it 
is  the  thing  he  wants  to  do,  and,  full  of 
enthusiasm,  adopts  it  as  his  life’s  work.  But 
in  a few  days  the  thorns  begin  to  appear,  his 
enthusiasm  evaporates,  and  he  wonders  why 
he  is  so  foolish  as  to  think  himself  fitted  for 
that  vocation.  The  one  which  his  friend 
adopted  is  much  better  suited  to  him ; he 
drops  his  own  and  adopts  the  other.  So  he 
vacillates  through  life,  captured  by  any  new 
occupation  which  happens  to  appeal  to  him 
as  the  most  desirable  at  the  time,  never  using 
his  judgment  or  common  sense,  but  governed 
by  his  impressions  and  his  feelings  at  the 
moment.  Such  people  are  never  led  by  prin- 
ciple. You  never  know  where  to  find  them ; 
they  are  here  to-day  and  there  to-morrow, 
doing  this  thing  and  that  thing,  throwing 
away  all  the  skill  they  had  acquired  in  mas- 
tering the  drudgery  of  the  last  occupation. 
In  fact,  they  never  go  far  enough  in  any- 


300  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


thing  to  get  beyond  the  drudgery  stage  to  the 
remunerative  and  agreeable  stage,  the  skill- 
ful stage.  They  spend  their  lives  at  the  be- 
ginnings of  occupations,  which  are  always 
most  agreeable.  These  people  rarely  reach 
the  stage  of  competency,  comfort,  and  con- 
tentment. 

There  is  a legend  of  a powerful  genius  who 
promised  a lovely  maiden  a gift  of  rare  value 
if  she  would  go  through  a field  of  corn,  and. 
without  pausing,  going  backward,  or  wander- 
ing hither  and  thither,  select  the  largest  and 
ripest  ear.  The  value  of  the  gift  was  to  be 
in  proportion  to  the  size  and  perfection  of  the 
ear.  She  passed  by  many  magnificent  ones, 
but  was  so  eager  to  get  the  largest  and  most 
perfect  that  she  kept  on  without  plucking  any 
until  the  ears  she  passed  were  successively 
smaller  and  smaller  and  more  stunted.  Fi- 
nally they  became  so  small  that  she  was 
ashamed  to  select  one  of  them ; and,  not  be- 
ing allowed  to  go  backward,  she  came  out  on 
the  other  side  without  any. 

Alexander,  his  heart  throbbing  with  a 
great  purpose,  conquers  the  world ; Hannibal, 
impelled  by  his  hatred  to  the  Romans,  even 
crosses  the  Alps  to  compass  his  design. 
While  other  men  are  bemoaning  difficulties 


DECISION 


301 


and  shrinking  from  dangers  and  obstacles, 
and  preparing  expedients,  the  great  soul, 
without  fuss  or  noise,  takes  the  step,  and  lo, 
the  mountain  has  been  leveled  and  the  way 
lies  open.  Learn,  then,  to  will  strongly  and 
decisively ; thus  fix  your  floating  life  and 
leave  it  no  longer  to  be  carried  hither  and 
thither,  like  a withered  leaf,  by  every  wind 
that  blows.  An  undecided  man  is  like  the 
turnstile  at  a fair,  which  is  in  everybody’s 
way  but  stops  no  one. 

“ The  secret  of  the  whole  matter  was,”  re- 
plied Amos  Lawrence,  “ we  had  formed  the 
habit  of  prompt  acting,  thus  taking  the  top  of 
the  tide ; while  the  habit  of  some  others  was 
to  delay  till  about  half  tide,  thus  getting  on 
the  flats.” 

Most  of  the  young  men  and  women  who 
are  lost  in  our  cities  are  ruined  because  of 
their  inability  to  say  “No”  to  the  thousand 
allurements  and  temptations  which  appeal  to 
their  weak  passions.  If  they  would  only  show 
a little  decision  at  first,  one  emphatic  “ No  ” 
might  silence  their  solicitors  forever.  But 
they  are  weak,  they  are  afraid  of  offending, 
they  don’t  like  to  say  “ No,”  and  thus  they 
throw  down  the  gauntlet  and  are  soon  on  the 
broad  road  to  ruin.  A little  resolution  early 


302  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


in  life  will  soon  conquer  the  right  to  mind 
one’s  own  business. 

An  old  legend  says  that  a fool  and  a wise 
man  were  journeying  together,  and  came  to 
a point  where  two  ways  opened  before  them, 
— one  broad  and  beautiful,  the  other  narrow 
and  rough.  The  fool  desired  to  take  the 
pleasant  way ; the  wise  man  knew  that  the 
difficult  one  was  the  shortest  and  safest,  and 
so  declared.  But  at  last  the  urgency  of  the 
fool  prevailed;  they  took  the  more  inviting 
path,  and  were  soon  met  by  robbers,  who 
seized  their  goods  and  made  them  captives. 
A little  later  both  they  and  their  captors  were 
arrested  by  officers  of  the  law  and  taken  be- 
fore the  judge.  Then  the  wise  man  pleaded 
that  the  fool  was  to  blame  because  he  desired 
to  take  the  wrong  way.  The  fool  pleaded 
that  he  was  only  a fool,  and  no  sensible  man 
should  have  heeded  his  counsel.  The  judge 
punished  them  both  equally.  “ If  sinners  en- 
tice thee,  consent  thou  not.” 

There  is  no  habit  that  so  grows  on  the  soul 
as  irresolution.  Before  a man  knows  what 
he  has  done,  he  has  gambled  his  life  away, 
and  all  because  he  has  never  made  up  his 
mind  what  he  would  do  with  it.  On  many 
of  the  tombstones  of  those  who  have  failed 


DECISION 


303 


in  life  could  be  read  between  the  lines : “ He 
Dawdled,”  “ Behind  Time,”  “ Procrastina- 
tion,” “ Listlessness,”  “ Shiftlessness,”  “ Nerve- 
lessness,” “ Always  Behind.”  Oh,  the  wrecks 
strewn  along  the  shores  of  life  “ just  behind 
success,”  “just  this  side  of  happiness,”  above 
which  the  words  of  warning  are  flying! 

Webster  said  of  such  an  undecided  man 
that  “ he  is  like  the  irresolution  of  the  sea  at 
the  turn  of  tide.  This  man  neither  advances 
nor  recedes ; he  simply  hovers.”  Such  a man 
is  at  the  mercy  of  any  chance  occurrence  that 
may  overtake  him.  His  “ days  are  lost  la- 
menting o’er  lost  days.”  He  has  no  power  to 
seize  the  facts  which  confront  him  and  com- 
pel them  to  serve  him. 

To  indolent,  shiftless,  listless  people  life 
becomes  a mere  shuffle  of  expedients.  They 
do  not  realize  that  the  habit  of  putting  every- 
thing off  puts  off  their  manhood,  their  ca- 
pacity, their  success ; their  contagion  infects 
their  whole  neighborhood.  Scott  used  to  cau- 
tion youth  against  the  habit  of  dawdling, 
which  creeps  in  at  every  crevice  of  unoccu- 
pied time  and  often  ruins  a bright  life. 
“ Your  motto  must  be,”  he  said,  “ Hoc  age,” 
— do  instantly.  This  is  the  only  way  to  check 
the  propensity  to  dawdling.  How  many  hours 


304  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


have  been  wasted  dawdling  in  bed,  turning 
over  and  dreading  to  get  up ! Many  a career 
has  been  crippled  by  it.  Burton  could  not 
overcome  this  habit,  and,  convinced  that  it 
would  ruin  his  success,  made  his  servant 
promise  before  he  went  to  bed  to  get  him  up 
at  just  such  a time ; the  servant  called,  and 
called,  and  coaxed;  but  Burton  would  beg 
him  to  be  left  a little  longer.  The  servant, 
knowing  that  he  would  lose  his  shilling  if  he 
did  not  get  him  up,  then  dashed  cold  water 
into  the  bed  between  the  sheets,  and  Burton 
came  out  with  a bound.  When  one  asked  a 
lazy  young  fellow  what  made  him  lie  in  bed 
so  long,  “ I am  employed,”  said  he,  “ in  hear- 
ing counsel  every  morning.  Industry  advises 
me  to  get  up ; Sloth  to  lie  still ; and  they  give 
me  twenty  reasons  for  and  against.  It  is  my 
part,  as  an  impartial  judge,  to  hear  all  that 
can  be  said  on  both  sides,  and  by  the  time 
the  cause  is  over  dinner  is  ready.” 

There  is  no  doubt  that,  as  a rule,  great  de- 
cision of  character  is  usually  accompanied  by 
great  constitutional  firmness.  Men  who  have 
been  noted  for  great  firmness  of  character 
have  usually  been  strong  and  robust.  There 
is  no  quality  of  the  mind  which  does  not  sym- 
pathize with  bodily  weakness,  and  especially 


DECISION 


305 


is  this  true  with  the  power  of  decision,  which 
is  usually  impaired  or  weakened  from  physi- 
cal suffering  or  any  great  physical  debility. 
As  a rule,  it  is  the  strong  physical  man  who 
carries  weight  and  conviction.  Any  bodily 
weakness,  or  lassitude,  or  lack  of  tone  and 
vigor,  is,  perhaps,  first  felt  in  the  weakened 
or  debilitated  power  of  decisions. 

Nothing  will  give  greater  confidence,  and 
bring  assistance  more  quickly  from  the  bank 
or  from  a friend,  than  the  reputation  of 
promptness.  The  world  knows  that  the 
prompt  man’s  bills  and  notes  will  be  paid  on 
the  day,  and  will  trust  him.  “ Let  it  be  your 
first  study  to  teach  the  world  that  you  are  not 
wood  and  straw;  that  there  is  some  iron  in 
you.”  “ Let  men  know  that  what  you  say 
you  will  do ; that  your  decision,  once  made,  is 
final, — no  wavering;  that,  once  resolved,  you 
are  not  to  be  allured  or  intimidated.” 

Some  minds  are  so  constructed  that  they 
are  bewildered  and  dazed  whenever  a respon- 
sibility is  thrust  upon  them ; they  have  a mor- 
tal dread  of  deciding  anything.  The  very 
effort  to  come  to  immediate  and  unflinching 
decision  starts  up  all  sorts  of  doubts,  diffi- 
culties, and  fears,  and  they  can  not  seem  to 
get  light  enough  to  decide  nor  courage 


3o6  rising  in  the  WORLD 


enough  to  attempt  to  remove  the  obstacle. 
They  know  that  hesitation  is  fatal  to  enter- 
prise, fatal  to  progress,  fatal  to  success.  Yet 
somehow  they  seem  fated  with  a morbid  in- 
trospection which  ever  holds  them  in  sus- 
pense. They  have  just  energy  enough  to 
weigh  motives,  but  nothing  left  for  the  mo- 
mentum of  action.  They  analyze  and  ana- 
lyze, deliberate,  weigh,  consider,  ponder,  but 
never  act.  How  many  a man  can  trace  his 
downfall  in  life  to  the  failure  to  seize  his  op- 
portunity at  the  favorable  moment,  when  it 
was  within  easy  grasp,  the  nick  of  time, 
which  often  does  not  present  itself  but  once ! 

It  was  said  that  Napoleon  had  an  officer 
under  him  who  understood  the  tactics  of  war 
better  than  his  commander,  but  he  lacked  that 
power  of  rapid  decision  and  powerful  concen- 
tration which  characterized  the  greatest  mili- 
tary leaders  perhaps  of  the  world.  There 
were  several  generals  under  Grant  who  were 
as  well  skilled  in  war  tactics,  knew  the  coun- 
try as  well,  were  better  educated,  but  they 
lacked  that  power  of  decision  which  made 
unconditional  surrender  absolutely  imperative 
wherever  he  met  the  foe.  Grant’s  decision 
was  like  inexorable  fate.  There  was  no  going 
behind  it,  no  opening  it  up  for  reconsidera- 


DECISION 


307 


tion.  It  was  his  decision  which  voiced  itself 
in  those  memorable  words  in  the  Wilderness, 
“ I propose  to  fight  it  out  on  these  lines  if  it 
takes  all  summer,”  and  which  sent  back  the 
words  “ unconditional  surrender  ” to  General 
Buckner,  who  asked  him  for  conditions  of 
capitulation,  that  gave  the  first  confidence  to 
the  North  that  the  rebellion  was  doomed.  At 
last  Lincoln  had  a general  who  had  the  power 
of  decision,  and  the  North  breathed  easy  for 
the  first  time. 

The  man  who  would  forge  to  the  front  in 
this  competitive  age  must  be  a man  of  prompt 
and  determined  decision;  like  Caesar,  he  must 
burn  his  ships  behind  him,  and  make  retreat 
forever  impossible.  When  he  draws  his 
sword  he  must  throw  the  scabbard  away,  lest 
in  a moment  of  discouragement  and  irresolu- 
tion he  be  tempted  to  sheathe  it.  He  must 
nail  his  colors  to  the  mast  as  Nelson  did  in 
battle,  determined  to  sink  with  his  ship  if  he 
can  not  conquer.  Prompt  decision  and  sub- 
lime audacity  have  carried  many  a successful 
man  over  perilous  crises  where  deliberation 
would  have  been  ruin. 


Hoc  age/’ 


XVI.  THE  CURSE  OF  IDLENESS 


“ Idleness  is  the  sepulcher  of  the  living  man.” 

Lost  wealth  may  be  restored  by  industry,  the 
wreck  of  health  regained  by  temperance,  forgotten 
knowledge  restored  by  study;  but  whoever  looked 
on  a vanished  hour,  or  recalled  his  neglected  oppor- 
tunities— Heaven’s  record  of  wasted  time? — Mrs. 
Sigourney. 

An  idler  is  a watch  that  wants  both  hands; 

As  useless  if  it  goes  as  when  it  stands. 

COWPER. 

Sloth,  like  rust,  consumes  faster  than  labor  wears. 
— Franklin. 

If  you  are  idle  you  are  on  the  way  to  ruin,  and 
there  are  few  stopping-places  upon  it.  It  is  rather 
a precipice  than  a road. — H.  W.  Beecher. 

“There  is  a firefly  in  the  southern  clime 
Which  shineth  only  when  upon  the  wing; 

So  is  it  with  the  mind : 

When  once  we  rest,  we  darken.” 


E is  a dreadfully  lazy  man,” 
began  Spurgeon,  when  asked 
to  enumerate  the  bad  habits 
of  a ne’er-do-well.  “ Stop ! ” 
exclaimed  the  old  clergyman 
to  whom  he  was  speaking, 
“ all  sorts  of  sins  are  included  in  this  one.” 
There  never  was  a truer  saying  than  that 
308 


THE  CURSE  OF  IDLENESS  309 


“ an  idle  brain  is  the  devil’s  workshop.”  In- 
deed, while  “ The  devil  tempts  all  other  men, 
the  idle  man  tempts  the  devil.” 

The  following  printer’s  squib  is  sugges- 
tive : — 

“ AUCTION. 

“Will  be  sold  by  Public  Vendue,  Friday, 
the  i8th  of  August,  at  the  house  of  Lemuel 
Poorsoul,  in  Nopenny  Township,  in  the 
County  of  Lackthrift,  a litter  of  Pups,  two 
Gamecocks,  three  Jugs,  one  Checker-Board, 
and  a Euchre  Pack.” 

“ Nature  knows  no  pause,”  writes  Goethe, 
“ and  attaches  a curse  upon  all  inaction.” 

While  a criminal  was  exchanging  his  own 
for  a prison  suit  in  the  penitentiary  of  Con- 
necticut he  remarked,  “ I never  did  a day’s 
work  in  my  life.”  No  wonder  that  he  reached 
the  state  prison. 

“ Out  of  work  ” has  caused  more  crime  and 
wretchedness  than  almost  anything  else. 

These  words  were  found  tattooed  on  the 
right  arm  of  a convict  in  a French  prison: 
“ The  past  has  deceived  me,  the  present  tor- 
ments me,  and  the  future  terrifies  me.”  His 
life  had  been  spent  in  idleness,  which  led  to 
crime. 


310  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


“ No  trade  ” is  the  open  sesame  to  our  jails. 
It  is  said  that  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  convicts 
in  the  Massachusetts  State  Prison  at  Charles- 
town entered  by  the  password,  “No  trade.” 

When  asked  the  cause  of  his  brother’s 
death,  Sir  Horace  Vere  replied,  “ He  died, 
sir,  of  having  nothing  to  do.”  “ Ah ! ” said 
the  Marquis  of  Spinola,  “ that  is  enough  to 
kill  any  general  of  us  all.” 

Epes  Sargent  said  that  the  man  who  did 
not  think  it  respectable  to  bring  up  his  chil- 
dren to  work  had  just  heard  from  his  three 
sons.  One  was  a driver  on  a canal ; another 
had  been  arrested  as  a vagrant ; and  a third 
had  gone  to  a certain  institution,  to  learn  to 
hammer  stone  under  a keeper. 

A lazy  fellow  once  complained  that  he 
could  not  find  bread  for  his  family.  “ Neither 
can  I,”  said  an  honest  laborer ; “ I have  to 
work  for  all  the  bread  I get.” 

A lazy  youth  will  be  a lazy  man  just  as 
surely  as  a crooked  sapling  makes  a crooked 
tree.  Laziness  grows  on  people ; it  begins  a 
cobweb  and  ends  in  iron  chains.  If  you  will 
be  nothing,  just  wait  to  be  somebody.  Idle- 
ness travels  very  leisurely  and  poverty  soon 
overtakes  her.  To  be  idle  is  to  be  poor.  Lei- 
sure is  sweet  to  those  who  have  earned  it,  but 


THE  CURSE  OF  IDLENESS  31 1 


it  is  burdensome  to  those  who  get  it  for 
nothing,  without  effort. 

Who  are  you,  young  man,  in  the  prime  and 
vigor  of  manhood,  that  you  should  be  exempt 
from  life’s  burdens  and  duties  and  eat  bread 
earned  by  the  sweat  of  another’s  brow,  when 
you  have  never  added  a farthing  to  the  cof- 
fers of  the  world?  What  if  the  sheep  refuse 
the  wool  to  cover  your  lazy  back,  and  its  body 
to  gratify  your  gluttonous  stomach?  What  if 
the  earth  refuse  bread  to  prolong  your  use- 
less, idle  life? 

Idleness,  especially  that  of  beggars,  was 
once  punishable  in  England  even  by  death. 
The  first  offense  was  punished  by  whipping; 
after  the  second  offense,  the  upper  part  of 
the  ear  was  cut  off ; the  third  offense  incurred 
imprisonment  in  jail.  If  indicted  for  wander- 
ing, idleness,  loitering,  and  found  guilty,  “ he 
shall  have  judgment  to  suffer  pains  and  exe- 
cution of  death  as  a felon,  and  as  an  enemy 
of  the  commonwealth.” 

In  Athens,  also,  idleness  was  a punishable 
crime,  and  not  only  were  the  citizens  com- 
pelled to  industry,  but  to  the  utmost  exertion 
of  their  talents.  It  was  not  enough  that  each 
should  choose  a profession ; the  court  of  Are- 
opagus inquired  into  and  ascertained  the  ex- 


312  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


tent  of  his  funds,  the  amount  of  his  expendi- 
tures and  the  measure  of  his  industry  and 
economy. 

A young  German  nobleman  supplemented  a 
college  course  by  extensive  travel,  and  then 
returned  to  live  in  idleness  upon  his  large 
estate.  Life  soon  became  so  insupportable 
that  he  told  a friend  that  he  should  commit 
suicide  the  following  night.  The  friend,  a 
manufacturer,  made  no  attempt  to  dissuade 
him;  but  asked  him,  as  a final  favor,  to  in- 
spect some  interesting  work  on  which  his 
operatives  were  engaged.  The  nobleman 
came ; and,  at  a sign  from  the  manufacturer, 
several  workmen  seized  the  visitor,  put  a 
blouse  on  him,  and  made  him  work  hard. 
When  the  laborers  stopped  for  refreshment 
the  visitor  was  so  tired  and  hungry  that  he 
was  glad  to  sit  down  with  the  others  to  a 
lunch  of  black  bread,  sausages,  and  beer. 
How  good  it  tasted,  and  how  welcome  seemed 
the  few  minutes  of  rest!  “Friend,”  said  a 
workman  who  learned  of  his  suicidal  intent, 
“ you  see  before  you  the  father  of  five  chil- 
dren. I lost  three  of  them  at  one  fell  swoop. 
I was  almost  crazy ; I wished  to  follow  them. 
But  I had  to  work  for  the  rest,  who  are 
dearer  to  me  than  life  itself;  and  now  work- 


THE  CURSE  OF  IDLENESS  313 


ing  for  them  has  made  life  sweet  to  me.” 
The  nobleman  thanked  his  friend  for  playing 
so  shrewd  a trick,  and  at  once  began  a long 
and  happy  career  of  usefulness. 

The  emptiness  and  misery  sometimes  found 
in  idle  high  life  is  illustrated  by  the  following 
letter  written  by  a French  countess  to  the  ab- 
sent count: — 

" Dear  Husband, — Not  knowing  what  else 
to  do  I will  write  to  you.  Not  knowing  what 
1:0  say,  I will  now  close.  Wearily  yours, 

• “Countess  de  R.” 

De  Quincey  pictures  a woman  sailing  over 
the  water  in  a boat  awakening  out  of  a sleep 
to  find  her  necklace  untied.  One  end  hangs 
over  the  side  of  the  boat,  and  pearl  after 
pearl  drops  into  the  stream.  While  she 
clutches  at  one,  just  falling,  another  drops 
beyond  her  grasp.  Like  these  pearls  from 
the  string,  our  hours  and  days  drop  one  after 
another,  and  are  forever  beyond  our  reach. 

“ I look  upon  indolence  as  a sort  of  sui- 
cide,” wrote  Lord  Chesterfield  to  his  son, 
“ for  by  it  the  man  is  efficiently  destroyed,  al- 
though the  appetite  of  the  brute  may  sur- 
vive.” 


314  RISING  IN  THE  WORLD 


There  is  no  one  thing  which  will  sooner 
wreck  a young  man  and  utterly  ruin  all  his 
future  prospects  than  the  reputation  of  being 
lazy,  shiftless.  If  possible,  dawdlers,  who  are 
forever  dillydallying,  are  worse  than  lazy 
people.  A dawdler  is  absolutely  good  for 
nothing.  If  a young  man  is  going  to  amount 
to  anything  his  success  will  depend  very 
largely  upon  his  reputation — what  other  peo- 
ple think  of  him.  No  one  is  willing  to  praise 
or  help  a dawdler.  A young  man  must  have 
the  reputation  of  being  prompt,  energetic,  de- 
cisive, earnest,  and  true,  if  he  would  have  the 
assistance  of  others ; and,  without  this,  suc- 
cess is  impossible. 

An  old  sea  captain  so  dreaded  this  habit  of 
dawdling  among  his  crew,  because  it  demor- 
alized all  discipline,  that  when  he  could  find 
nothing  else  for  them  to  do  he  would  make 
them  scour  the  anchor. 

Who  does  not  know  some  member  of  the 
“Idle  Family”?  Idleness  is  a sly  thief;  she 
snatches  a minute  here  and  a few  minutes 
there;  she  clips  a quarter  of  an  hour  from 
your  music  lesson,  or  your  other  duties.  We 
determine  every  morning  that  she  shall  have 
none  of  this  day,  but  every  night  we  have  to 
confess  her  petty  thefts  with  chagrin.  She 


THE  CURSE  OF  IDLENESS  315 


holds  you  “just  a minute”  till  your  train  has 
gone,  “just  a minute”  till  the  bank  has 
closed;  she  induces  you  to  get  your  house 
insured  to-morrow,  but  it  burns  to-night;  to 
apply  for  the  situation  to-morrow,  but  it  is 
taken  to-day.  She  makes  you  tardy  at  school, 
just  a little  late  for  your  engagements,  until 
you  have  lost  your  reputation  for  promptness 
and  ruined  your  credit. 

“ I remember,”  says  Hillard,  “ a satirical 
poem,  in  which  the  devil  is  represented  as 
fishing  for  men,  and  adapting  his  bait  to  the 
tastes  and  temperaments  of  his  prey ; but  the 
idlers  were  the  easiest  victims,  for  they  swal- 
lowed even  the  naked  hook.” 

It  is  the  holidays,  the  evenings,  the  spare 
moments  that  try  character;  the  great  strain 
does' not  come  in  the  busy  day. 

If  you  want  to  know  a young  man’s  char- 
acter, find  out  what  he  does  with  his  spare 
minutes.  What  do  they  mean  to  him?  What 
does  he  see  in  them?  Does  he  see  education, 
self-culture,  a coveted  book,  in  the  odd  mo- 
ments and  half-holidays  which  others  throw 
away ; or  does  he  see  a sparring-match,  a 
saloon,  a gambling-place,  horse-racing,  or  a 
pool  table? 

Many  a man,  after  acquiring  a fortune  by 


3i6  rising  in  the  WORLD 


habits  of  industry  and  economy,  has  retired 
to  enjoy  the  leisure  to  which  he  has  so  long 
looked  forward  as  the  goal  of  competence, 
only  to  find  a life  of  idleness  so  intolerable 
that  he  must  choose  a renewal  of  business 
activity  or  death  from  the  lack  of  anything 
to  keep  the  vital  forces  in  motion.  For  the 
first  time  he  learns  that  the  command  to  live 
for  a purpose  is  intended  for  our  good,  as 
without  some  aim  we  can  not  long  exist. 
As  digestion  is  measured  by  appetite,  our 
hold  on  life  is  measured  by  our  int/srest  in 
various  objects  of  thought. 

The  mind  must  be  active,  and  if  we  do  not 
furnish  worthy  employment,  it  will  feed  upon 
itself  and  consume  its  own  substance.  The 
man  without  definite  work  soon  becomes  the 
victim  of  a diseased  mind.  Melancholy  and 
disappointment  prey  upon  him  and  rob  him 
of  aspiration  and  happiness. 

Nature  demands  that  you  labor  until  you 
are  tired  before  she  will  reward  you  with 
sweet,  refreshing  sleep  and  a ravenous  appe- 
tite,— luxuries  which  the  idle  and  the  lazy 
never  enjoy.  She  reserves  these  boons  for 
her  hard-handed  toilers.  As  their  pay  is 
small  she  gives  them  this  additional  sx)mpen- 
sation  for  doing  the  world’s  drudgery. 


THE  CURSE  OF  IDLENESS  317 

The  bicycle  falls  the  moment  it  stops;  in- 
dustry keeps  many  a life  from  falling. 

The  let-alone  principle  is  dangerous.  Let 
your  brain  alone  and  you  will  become  an 
imbecile.  Let  your  land  alone  and  you  will 
become  a pauper.  Let  your  neighbor  alone 
and  you  will  become  selfish.  Let  your  soul 
alone  and  you  will  become  devilish. 

A lazy  man  is  of  no  more  use  in  the  world 
than  a dead  man,  and  he  takes  up  more  room. 
Who  waits  for  something  to  turn  up,  often 
turns  up  himself  in  jail. 

“ Nothing  is  worse  for  those  who  have 
business  than  the  visits  of  those  who  have 
none,”  was  the  motto  of  a Scotch  editor. 

Time  is  exactly  what  we  make  it : in  the 
hands  of  the  wise,  a blessing,  a preparation 
for  life  eternal ; in  the  hands  of  the  foolish, 
a curse,  a preparation  for  the  condemnation 
that  is  everlasting.  To  you  it  is  much ; to 
your  neighbor,  it  is  naught. 

Could  I give  the  youth  of  this  country  but 
one  word  of  advice  it  would  be  this : Let  no 
moment  pass  until  you  haz’e  extracted  from 
it  every  possibility.  Watch  every  grain  in 
the  hourglass. 

Make  each  day  stand  for  something. 
Neither  heaven  nor  earth  has  any  place  for 


3i8  rising  in  the  WORLD 


the  drone ; he  is  a libel  on  his  species.  No 
glamour  of  wealth  or  so;cial  prestige  can  hide 
his  essential  ugliness.  It  is  better  to  carry  a 
hod  or  wield  a shovel  in  honest  endeavor  to 
be  of  some  use  to  humanity  than  to  be  nursed 
in  luxury  and  be  a parasite. 


LETTERS  ABOUT 

"peacet  'poioet  anb  "pf  enfg 


“ I cannot  thank  you  enough 
for  ‘ Peace,  Power  and  Plenty.’  Your  former  book, 
‘ Every  man  a King,’  has  been  my  ‘ bedside  book  ’ for 
many  months  now,  — the  new  one  is  even  more  of  a 
comfort.” — Blanche  Bates. 

“ I have  read  with  great  pleasure, 
interest  and  profit  your  admirable  ‘ Peace,  Power  and 
Plenty.’  To  have  written  such  a book  is  a service  to 
the  race.”  — Charles  Edward  Russell. 

Andrew  Carnegie  says 

“ I thank  you  for  ‘ Why  Grow  Old  ? ’ (a  chapter  in 
‘ Peace,  Power  and  Plenty  ’).” 

John  Burroughs  says 

“ I am  reading  a chapter  or  two  in  ‘ Peace,  Power  and 
Plenty’  each  evening.  You  preach  a sound,  vigorous, 
wholesome  doctrine.” 

“The  most  valuable  chapter  for  me  ” 
says  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson,  “is  that  on  ‘Why 
Grow  Old  ? ’ I wish  to  learn  just  that.  I am  now  85, 
and  have  never  felt  old  yet,  but  I shall  keep  your 
chapter  at  hand  in  case  that  should  ever  happen  to  me.” 

Conan  Doyle  says 

“ I find  it  very  stimulating  and  interesting.” 

“ The  chapter  on  ‘ Health  Through  Right  Thinking’ 
alone  is  worth  five  hundred  dollars.” — Samuel  Brill, 
Head  of  the  firm  of  Brill  Brothers,  New  York. 


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THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  & CO. 

NEW  YORK 


Opinions  of 

©tjp  lEtrarlp  of  uII|0U5l|t 


Dr.  Sheldon  Leavitt  says; 

“ I wish  to  state  that  I am  unusually  well  pleased  with 
Dr.  Marden’s  ‘ Miracle  of  Right  Thought.’  It  is  the 
best  work  of  the  author.” 

Ralph  Waldo  Trine  says : 

“ This  is  one  of  those  inspiring,  reasonable  and  valuable 
books  that  are  bringing  new  life  and  new  power  to  so 
many  thousands  all  over  our  country  and  all  over  the 
world  to-day.” 

“ You  have  formulated  a philosophy 
which  must  sooner  or  later  be  universally  accepted. 
Your  book  shows  how  the  right  mental  attitude  helps 
one  in  the  realization  of  every  laudable  ambition,  and 
the  value  of  cultivating  a bright,  self-reliant  habit  of 
thought.  I congratulate  you  on  it.” 

G.  H.  Sandison,  Editor,  The  Christian  Herald. 

“It  is  marked  by  sanctified  common  sense  ; 
it  is  in  line  with  the  advance  thought  of  to-day,  and 
yet  it  is  so  simple  in  statement  that  unlettered  men  and 
untrained  youths  can  master  its  best  thoughts  and  trans- 
late them  into  their  daily  lives.” 

Rev.  R.  S.  MacArthur,  D.D.,  Neav  York  City. 

Rev.  F.  E.  Clark,  President  United  Society 
of  Christian  Endeavor,  says : 

“I  regard ‘The  Miracle  of  Right  Thought’  as  one  of 
Dr.  Marden’s  very  best  books,  and  that  is  saying  a great 
deal  He  has  struck  the  modem  note  of  the  power  of 
mind  over  bodily  conditions  in  a fresh  and  most  inter- 
esting ^vay,  while  he  has  not  fallen  into  the  mistake  of 
some  New  Thought  writers  of  eliminating  the  personal 
God  from  the  universe.  No  one  can  read  this  book 
sympathetically,  I believe,  without  being  happier  and 
better.” 


ismo,  cloth,  $1.00  net.  By  mail,  Si.io 

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THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  & CO.,  NEW  YORK 


Letters  to  Dr.  Marden  concerning 

(Setting  (S>n 


Effective  and  Inspiring 

“ I think  the  chapters  in  this  book  are  the  most  effec- 
tive and  inspiring  I have  read.  They  make  one  want 
to  be  something  better.  Had  I read  them  ten  or  fifteen 
years  ago  I should  have  been  a different  person  now.” 

H.  J.  Cropley,  Victoria,  Australia. 

“ I have  gained  great  good 
from  reading  the  chapter  ‘ Emergencies  the  Test  of 
Ability.’  You  have  placed  my  ideas  of  life  and  raised 
my  goals  far  above  what  they  once  were.” 

Rupert  C.  Bowden,  Magazine,  Arkansas. 

Of  Value  to  Employees 

“ I became  so  impressed  with  the  directness  of  your 
article  ‘ The  Precedent  Breaker  ’ that  I shall  ask  each 
one  of  our  employees  to  read  it,  notifying  them  of  its 
appearance  through  our  weekly  bulletin.” 

Samuel  Brill,  Head  of  firm  of  Brill  Bros. 

Chapter  reprinted  by  Bell  Telephone  Co. 

“ I take  pleasure  in  sending  you  two  copies  of  The 
Telephone  News,  in  which  appears  your  splendid  arti- 
cle ‘ The  Precedent  Breaker.’  We  are  grateful  for 
your  kind  permission  to  send  this  through  the  News 
to  six  thousand  Bell  Telephone  employees.” 

George  G.  Steel,  Advertising  Manager 
Bell  Telephone  Co.  of  Pennsylvania. 

An  Inspiration  in  Time  of  Need 

“ I wish  to  thank  you  for  the  chapter  on  ‘ Clear  Grit 
did  It.’  It  has  been  an  inspiration  to  me  in  a time 
when  I needed  it  most.” 

C.  W.  Hale,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 


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THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  &.  CO.,  NEW  YORK 


Press  Reviews  of  Dr.  Marden’s 

J6e  (5ooi)  to  j^ourself 


“The  author  is  a wonder, — 

one  of  the  very  best  preachers,  through  the  pen,  of  our 
time.”  Zion’s  Herald. 


“ Just  such  a discussion  of  personality 

as  we  all  need.  The  titles  of  the  chapters  are  appetiz- 
ing and  the  advice  and  lessons  taught  are  good.  It 
will  help  many  a reader  to  understand  himself  better.” 

The  Advance. 

“ The  kind  counsel  of  a new  book 

by  Orison  Swett  Harden,  who  says  there  are  many 
people  who  are  good  to  others  but  not  to  themselves. 
This  is  a fine  volume  from  every  point  of  view.” 

The  Religious  Telescope. 

“ Of  a thoroughly  inspirational  character, 

these  essays  are  calculated  to  awaken  and  sustain  the 
right  sort  of  ambition  and  evolve  a manly  type  of  char- 
acter. They  are  surcharged  with  faith,  optimism,  and 
common  sense.”  TIu  Boston  Herald. 

“ Dr.  Marden’s  friends, 

who  are  to  be  found  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  wait 
eagerly  for  such  advice  as  this,  on  how  to  be  happy, 
hearty,  and  healthy.”  Seattle  Post-Intelligencer. 


i2mo,  cloth,  $1.00  net.  By  mail,  $i.io 

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THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  & CO.,  NEW  YORK 


Letters  to  Dr.  Marden  concerning 

Ibe  Can  Mbo  Cbinbe  1be  Can 

Will  Do  Amazing  Good 

••  I believe  ‘ He  Can  Who  Thinks  He  Can,  ’ compris- 
ing some  of  your  editorials,  which  appear  akin  to  divine 
inspiration  in  words  of  cheer,  hope,  courage  and  success, 
will  do  amazing  good.” 

James  Peter,  Independence,  Kas. 

Greatest  Things  Ever  Written 

“Your  editorials  on  the  subjects  of  self-confidence 
and  self-help  are  the  greatest  things  ever  written  along 
that  line.”  H.  L.  Dunlap,  Waynesburg,  Pa. 

Gripping  Power 

“ Presents  the  truth  in  a remarkably  clear  and  for- 
cible manner,  with  a gripping  power  back  of  the  writing. 
It  is  beautiful  and  inspiring.” 

C.  W.  Smelser,  Coopertown,  Okla. 

Beginning  of  My  Success 

“ Your  editorials  have  helped  me  more  than  any  other 
reading.  The  beginning  of  my  success  was  when  I 
commenced  to  practise  your  teachings.” 

Bruce  Hartman,  Honolulu,  T.  H. 

Wishes  to  Reprint  It 

“ I have  been  very  much  impressed  by  the  chapter  on 
‘ New  Thought,  New  Life.  ’ I would  like  to  send  a 
copy  of  it  to  two  thousand  of  my  customers,  giving  due 
credit  of  course.”  John  D.  y\.ov.R\s,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Full  of  Light  and  Joy 

“ I have  studied  the  subject  of  New  Thought  for  ten 
years,  but  have  never  seen  anything  so  comprehensive, 
so  full  of  light  and  joy,  as  your  treatment  of  it.  AATien 
I think  of  the  good  it  will  do,  and  the  thousands  it  will 
reach,  my  heart  rejoices.” 

Louise  Markscheffel,  Toledo,  O. 


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THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  &.  CO,,  NEW  YORK 


Letters  to  Dr.  Marden  concerning 

Evcc'e  Lilian  a Ifttng 


Success  vs.  Failure 

“ One  of  the  most  inspiring  books  I have  ever  read. 

I should  like  to  purchase  a thousand  and  distribute 
them,  as  I believe  the  reading  of  this  book  would  make 
the  difference  between  success  and  failure  in  many  lives.” 
Chas.  E.  Schmick,  House  of  Representatives,  Mass. 

Worth  One  Hundred  Dollars 

“ I would  not  take  one  hundred  dollars  for  your  book, 

‘ Every  Man  a King,  ’ if  no  other  were  available.” 

Willard  Merriam,  New  York  City. 

Unfailing  Optimism 

“ The  unfailing  note  of  optimism  which  rings  through 
all  your  works  is  distinctly  sounded  here.” 

W.  E.  Huntington,  Pres.,  Boston  University. 

The  Keynote  of  Life 

“ ‘ Every  Man  a King  ’ strikes  the  keynote  of  life. 
Any  one  of  its  chapters  is  well  worth  the  cost  of  the 
book.”  E.  J.  Teagarden,  Danbury,  Conn. 

Simply  Priceless 

“ I have  just  read  it  with  tremendous  interest,  and  I 
frankly  say  that  I regard  it  as  simply  priceless.  Its 
value  to  me  is  immeasurable,  and  I should  be  glad  if  I 
could  put  it  in  the  hands  of  every  intelligent  young 
man  and  woman  in  this  coimtry.” 

Chas.  Stokes  Wayne,  Chaff  aqua,  N.  Y. 

Renewed  Ambition 

“ I have  read  and  re-read  it  with  pleasure  and  re-  ' 
newed  ambition.  I shall  ever  keep  it  near  at  hand  as  [ 
a frequent  reminder  and  an  invaluable  text-book.” 

H.  H.  Williams,  Brockton,  Mass. 


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I 


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